Staffroom Bullies Deirdre J Duncan

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Staffroom BulliesDeirdre J Duncan Dan Riley
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• Workplace bullying is an area where there appears
  to be no reliable statistics. Yet it is a growing
  problem costing Australia 13 billion a year!
  (Hay-Mackenzie, 2002)
• It is more common between staff in schools than
  it is between students (Richards Freeman 2002)
• It occurs when students bully staff staff bully
  other staff and parents bully staff.

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Definition - Bullying

• the repeated oppression, psychological or
  physical, by a more powerful person or group of
  persons (Rigby, 1996)
• a repeated pattern of unprovoked, unwelcome
  hostile behaviour that intentionally inflicts, or
  attempts to inflict, injury, hurt, humiliation or
  discomfort (Richards Freeman, 2002)

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Causes of Bullying

• Competition for status and employment position
• Envy
• The perpetrators uncertainty about him/her self
• Organisational factors deficiencies in
  leadership behaviour deficiencies in work
  design low moral standard prevailing

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Profiles of Victims

• You are vulnerable
• You are dispensable
• You are more competent
• You are more popular
• You are independent
• You have been bullied before
• You have traits that are considered weaknesses
• You internalise any feeling
• You are in the wrong place at the wrong time
• indicate a susceptibility to bullying

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Types of Bullying

• Psychological
• Chronic or serial
• Opportunistic
• Self-preserving
• Sergeant major
• Organisational
• Cyber stalking

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Am I being bullied?

• Are you the subject of damaging gossip or
  innuendo?
• Are you the subject of verbal abuse, putdowns,
  insults, threatening gestures or attempts to
  humiliate?
• Has your mental or physical health been affected
  by the persons behaviour towards you?

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Am I being bullied?contd

• Are you being ignored, isolated from work
  activities, excluded from information or being
  over-monitored?
• Are your efforts being constantly undervalued or
  your work regularly criticised unjustifiably?
• Is this person claiming credit for your work or
  ideas? (Richards Freeman, 2002)

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Manifestations of Bullying

• May be top down
• Horizontally
• Bottom up

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Cases of Bullying

• In 2000 in NZ, teacher sought 350,000 for
  personal grievance because of bullying by English
  Faculty Head
• In 1998 in Britain, a deputy principal won over
  100,000 in damages because of bullying by
  colleagues
• In 2000 in Britain, a teacher accepted 300,000
  in compensation for bullying by a new female head
  teacher

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Legal Protection

• No legislation relating specifically to bullying
  but there is recourse through existing
  legislation
• Workplace health safety or OHS
• Anti-discrimination
• Human rights equal opportunity

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Legal Protection contd

• Workplace relations
• Industrial relations
• WorkCover Com Care
• Public ethics or public service (Rafferty, 2001)

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Executive Action Work Place Bullying

• Investigate the existence of bullying
• Develop a relevant written policy
• Appoint a contact person
• Provide professional development for staff
• Implement the policy, and
• Review and evaluate the policy (Rafferty, 2001)

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Executive Action contd

• Policy should include disciplinary action
  offenders will face
• Communicate the policy via leaflets and notice
  boards
• Identify forms of bullying in the policy and let
  staff know their complaints can be dealt with in
  confidence

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Executive Action contd

• Watch out for signs of stress
• Take complaints seriously and deal with them
  swiftly
• Provide training for aggressive staff
• Keep comprehensive notes of all incidents

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Conclusions

• There is a dearth of research into staffroom
  bullying in Australian schools
• The public and professional focus has been on the
  playground bully
• There is a need to establish the profile of the
  adult bully
• The role of the school executive is critical in
  ensuring the absence of bullying in the staffroom.

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