You can go to our
Newsletters.
Or search for a word here:
Workplace Harassment: Is this You?
Nicole Rafter, a professor at Northeastern and author of five books and
numerous articles on deviance and social control, is conducting a study of
mobbing, the experience of being ganged up on and psychologically terrorized
in the work place. Mobbing remains virtually unrecognized in this country
though it has been studied extensively in Europe and is now being researched
in Australia as well.
According to one estimate, a million U.S. workers suffer mobbing each
year at an annual cost of perhaps $100 million from absenteeism, reduced
productivity, psychological care and law suits. The costs to victims include
anxiety disorders, irreversible personality changes, and in extreme cases,
death by suicide or murder.
Rafter's study is based on interviews with people who have been
mobbed. She is seeking subjects from a variety of workplaces and guarantees
complete confidentiality. Her goal is a book that will bring mobbing to public
attention in the United States and recommend effective strategies for
preventing and handling it. If your experience is possibly relevant, contact
Rafter at 617-373-8998 (fax).
-wage@wage.org-