Bully Bosses
Oprah may be able to show bully bosses the
error of their ways, but television is way
outside the government system. Former Oberlin College president Robert Fuller calls bullying "rankism"" and notes that whistleblowers are the ultimate nobodies,
and
thus
subject to abuse. Blindness
by superiors, and the OSC, MSPB and Federal Circuit in the whistlebower context make retaliation and escalation rational.
Plus,
the
psychiatric
examination
amendment enacted in 1994 gives managers
the same right to appeal any order requiring
them to get counseling and many would strenuously
complain about privacy breaches if their
medical/mental health histories were put
at issue. Here's a British website about
bullybosses.
Remember that our legal system focuses on
the case before it, and thus the employee.
Another crucial concept here is that forcing
anyone into therapy virtually guarantees
failure--either the person keeps doing whatever
he had been doing in resentment at being
pushed, or fakes whatever result the therapist
seems to prefer. Neither is real or long
lasting. Besides, the maxim of therapy in
this day and age is "Look inside"
not get distracted by the other person's
problems. Gnostic philosphers coined it simply
as "know thyself;" and then there's
the Christian parable about the very human
preference to point out the motes in neighbors'
eyes....
Psychological literature disagrees about
whether bullies suffer from low self-esteem
or an inflated sense of self. The only thing
that can be said for sure, is that systems
which apologize for bullies by looking at
them as having low self esteem often ignore
victims, as well as the bully's refusal to
take responsibility for his or her actions.
The other attitude, trying to take a bully
down a notch through punishment often doesn't
work, for the bully may take the punishment
as a mark of honor, or simply be more cautious
in punishing or having others punish the
tattletale. Bullies don't act in vacuums--they
need supportive audiences, so the system
must be examined, not just one individual
(victim or perpetrator, or both).