Poor Behavior 12: Lack of Openness or Honesty (5/21/12)
Vivian Scott
When people don’t know what’s happening they often get a movie going in their head that helps them explain the situation. The film versions they conjure up are rarely romantic comedies; rather, most resemble horror movies with terrible endings. A lack of honesty or openness at work can put everyone’s mental movie-making skills to the test.

On Beating Bullies (5/14/12)
Michael Jacobs
Tackling bullying may involve a counter-intuitive approach. While naming and shaming may leave us feeling morally superior, it might also produce ever more subtle forms of bullying. This article argues that we need to encourage those of us who feel like kicking butts to ‘come in from the cold’.   3 Comments

Suing Over an Online Review (1/30/12)
Colin Rule
‘A Dallas law firm has filed a lawsuit seeking to learn the identity of a commenter calling himself “Ben” who posted a bad online review. The Lenahan Law Firm claims defamation and seeks $50,000 in damages, Texas Lawyer reports. Partner Wes Black says the suit will allow the law firm to subpoena Google to learn the commenter’s identity.

Dismantling Systems of Bullying (11/28/11)
Peter T. Coleman
Bullying is a public health problem that affects 20% to 30% of students on a daily basis and is associated with depression, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse and a decreased sense of empathy for others. It is also a common problem in other adult workplaces.

The Power of Language and Its Impacts (6/19/11)
Clive Johnson, Jackie Keddy
Simply uttering a single word (and sometimes by not saying anything at all) or just presenting a certain look can send a strong message, whether or not the sender’s intention has been interpreted correctly.

Communication Styles and Manager Choices (5/02/11)
Clive Johnson, Jackie Keddy
Managers, as much as anyone else, can choose from a variety of ways for communicating with another individual.   2 Comments

Bullying Can Cause Lasting Injury But There Is Hope (12/13/10)
Lorraine Segal
According to a recent article in the Boston Globe, brain scans of teens who have been repeatedly bullied revealed the same changes as those who have been physically or sexually abused. In some individuals, the negative changes persisted years later.

Dealing With Defensiveness In High Conflict People (11/22/10)
Bill Eddy
When most people think of high conflict people (HCPs), they think of bad behavior. The goal seems to be to get them to STOP their bad behavior, by verbally motivating them to have insights into how bad they are acting. However, the high conflict behavior of HCPs is not driven by logic and self-awareness. If you don’t understand this and don’t accept this, you will waste your time arguing for insights and miss your opportunities to calm them down and set real limits on their behavior.   9 Comments

Mishandling Bullying And Harassment Will Hijack The Diversity And Inclusion Agenda (9/13/10)
John Crawley
A crisis is brewing as two reports predict a potential surge in bullying and harassment grievances at work, and a lack of confidence in the ability of management (particularly in the public sector) to handle bullying and harassment, conflict and relationship issues[1]. Bad practice on bullying and harassment and relationship issues will undermine employees’ and customers’ confidence in diversity and inclusion initiatives[2]. The cost of mishandling these will also divert time and money away from building relationships and engagement through diverse workforces.

Bullying Responses (8/23/10)
Jeff Thompson
A new book by an Australian expert on bullying in schools has set out six methods used by teachers to tackle this scourge of the playground.

What Is A Bully? (8/09/10)
Alan Sharland
How a commonly used word is often not explored to clarify what is meant when someone uses it - and how that lack of clarity can lead to powerlessness.   5 Comments

Is It Time To Stop ‘Bullying’? (7/12/10)
Tim Kingsbury
I’ve been thinking for a while that the term ‘bullying’ may be becoming less and less useful. We all know it goes on around us, we all know people who have been damaged by it, and the scale of workplace bullying is worrying. To give just one indication of scale, at a recent conference[1] Gill Dix of ACAS said that the ACAS Helpline receives 74,000 calls annually about bullying and harassment.

Zena Zumeta: Evaluative Approach - Video (5/22/10)
Zena Zumeta
Zena Zumeta explains the difficulties she sees with using an evaluative approach. However, she sees how it can be useful in a dispute where there is a power imbalance.

Albie Davis: Mediating With Bullies - Video (10/11/09)
Albie Davis
Albie Davis explains that she is okay with mediating with bullies and describes different types of bullies.

Clarence Cramer: Courts and Domestic Violence - Video (4/12/09)
Clarence Cramer
Clarence Cramer discusses when a court should get involved in a case that involves domestic violence.

Yes, No or I'll Think About It (11/24/08)
Bill Eddy
Whether in a divorce, a workplace dispute, or a conflict with a neighbor, it’s easy to get caught up in defending our own behavior and point of view. This is especially true when we are dealing with a high conflict person.

Bullies At Work (10/14/08)
Bill Eddy
Workplace bullying is a growing international problem. It is more than a one-time incident. It is a pattern of behavior between a bully and another worker which can demoralize, isolate and trigger illness in the target of the bully.   19 Comments

"B" is for Bully Update: Mom Indicted for MySpace Bullying Leading to Teen's Suicide (5/19/08)
Victoria Pynchon
I've blogged several times about bullying, both here and over at the IP ADR Blog.  We learned from Forbes.com today that federal prosecutors are seeking an indictment against the mom we wrote about here for her alleged role in an online hoax that caused a 13-year old girl to commit suicide.  Here's the link with an excerpt below:  Indictment sought in MySpace cyberbullying case.LOS ANGELES - Federal prosecutors are seeking an indictment against a Missouri mother for her...

"B" is for Bully: The ABC's of Conflict Resolution (5/05/08)
Victoria Pynchon
Here’s another familiar character. This is the kid who shook you down for your lunch money on the elementary school playground. The one who taunted you in gym whenever you failed to pass the basketball to the only guy able to sink it. The swaggering bad boy who threw the “dodge” ball in your face and then fell down laughing. But don't be fooled by ribbons and curls.  Boys aren't the only bullies in town.  There’s no bully quite so deadly as the high school ...

Workplace violence blog committed to making employees safer (2/11/08)
Diane J. Levin
PART27.com, a web site dedicated to providing resources that help organizations, companies, and agencies create safer workplaces, also publishes Workplace Violence, a blog that delivers news and links to resources for employers and others seeking ways to address and prevent violence at work. Among the stories covered recently are: “Bullying bad for business“ “Bullied at work: practice costs productivity, health” and New European report highlights emerging...

The Answer is Still No to 'Getting to Yes': What One Conservative Commentator Says About the Anti-Bullying Movement (4/16/07)
Diane J. Levin
Recently I looked at why the world--or least America--has not yet gotten to yes. I described the cultural forces that resist mightily the logic and common sense of principled negotiation and are deeply distrustful of peacebuilding, collaboration, and dialogue.I offer you yet one more example: a transcript of right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh's comments on a recently released study on workplace bullying.Here's a sample--and it's classic Limbaugh all the way:There's nothing new in any ...

When Mediators Turn a Blind Eye to Bullying (9/18/06)
Barb Hastings
Bullying isn't allowed in or around school anymore. Yet it is common practice in the legal profession. What is surprising to me is that mediators seem to turn a blind eye to it. They accept it as a part of the process.   6 Comments

The Mediator as Moralist Bully (4/30/05)
Robert Benjamin
As a presenter, I’d always wondered when I would be found out—maybe this audience would discover that I was living a lie: when I was a child I had been a bully. That’s not all. There are times I could qualify for being ‘abusive,’ certainly ‘passive-aggressive,’ and even that new descriptor that effortlessly rolls off the tongues of so many of my colleagues, the “Narcissistic Personal Disorder.” That fit me too. Would they see it?   6 Comments

Workplace Violence: Paranoid or Prepared? (3/08/02)
Kimberly Larsen
Workplace Violence costs American employers not only in dollars and cents, but also in a significant loss in productivity. It is estimated that American businesses lose approximately 36 billion dollars per year as a result of workplace violence. This figure includes monetary costs from lost productivity, legal fees, settlement costs and jury verdicts. Out-of-court settlements for lawsuits arising out of workplace violence average $500,000, with jury verdicts averaging about $3 million.

Violence and Harassment In The Workplace: The 10 Most Common Mistakes Companies Make (3/07/01)
Lynne McClure
Read what nationally acclaimed consultant Dr McClure has to say about workplace harassment and violence. Employers are more liable -- and less prepared -- than many of them realize. Forum Discussion   3 Comments