bullying – When The Abuser Goes To Work…

The Most Courageous Politician in the U.S.?

Mobbing occurs when bullies gang up to drive out an individual who is perceived to have a weakness or to silence that person by inflicting psychological pain.

This is what happened to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, after he delivered a thoughtful and respectful response to Democratic President Joe Biden’s address to the nation on Wednesday.

Mobbing is a scurrilous form of harassment that, in this case, was clearly intended to discredit Scott’s speech by attacking his racial identity.

Scott is the lone GOP African American in the U.S. Senate.

Twitter

Liberal progressive “thinkers” seem to find it acceptable to use a racist slur to refer to an African American politician simply because he has a different vision for how to address racial problems that have resisted resolution in America for many decades.

After Scott’s speech, a hashtag began trending on Twitter – #UncleTim. This refers to the term “Uncle Tom” and was intended to portray Scott as a black man who is excessively subservient to white people. Scott was ridiculed in thousands of tweets for 11 hours until Twitter finally shut it down.

A Loophole For Sexual Harassers In The U.S. Judiciary

Alex Kozinski on The Dating Game in 2006.

An upcoming book chronicles a loophole that allows federal judges to not only evade accountability for sexual harassment and bullying but to go on to enjoy a full salary for life and future professional acclaim.

Martha C. Nussbaum, in Citadels of Pride, to be published May 11 by W. W. Norton & Co., explores the tainted career of a former appellate judge who was celebrated for his brilliance, Alex Kozinski, a one-time chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.

Nussbaum, a professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago, says the Kozinski case shows the “structural weaknesses” of judicial codes of conduct. “E]van an egregious abuser can survive for twenty years if he is bright, flamboyant, well-connected and shameless,” she writes.

The loophole that worked for Kozinski – and others – is that he was permitted to resign in 2017 after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment. Because he was retired, he was eligible to receive his pension – which was his full salary – for the rest of his life.

Is ‘Bullying’ Okay if You Say You’re a Protester?

What some people consider to be protesting, others experience as bullying or worse (i.e., domestic terrorism).

Some of the residents of a quiet residential neighborhood in Portland, OR, were likely unsettled recently when they were visited one night by hundreds of so-called “protesters.”

At least, “protesters” is what The New York Times called them.

They were supposedly protesting police brutality and seeking support from residents of the largely white residential neighborhood.

But they looked more like an invading army. They were uniformly clad in black garb, wearing motorcycle helmets and masks that hid their faces. Some wore body armor. Others had tool belts containing an array of ominous looking paraphernalia.

The NYT reports the “protesters” stopped at a house where an American flag was on display in the yard. They demanded the owner take the flag down and, when he refused, threatened to return later and burn down the house.

By calling them protesters, the NYT accorded them a legitimacy that many legitimate protesters of police brutality would not.

Standing Up To Rush Limbaugh

Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke told the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee that contraception is a women’s health issue.

As a result, she was subjected to a personal venomous assault by a bully, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who used his national radio platform to call Ms. Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute.”

What happened after Limbaugh’s verbal assault is fascinating in the context of bullying.

When bystanders do nothing, a bully prevails and becomes stronger. And it is well known that bystanders often do nothing.

In this case, many bystanders chose to do something – they demanded that advertisers cease supporting Limbaugh’s radio show. The result is that Limbaugh has lost dozens of sponsors. And he was forced to apologize – though, as Ms. Fluke notes, his apology is not very meaningful under these circumstances.

The Fluke episode lends powerful credence to the theory behind a new school anti-bullying program developed in Finland in 2007, KiVa, which is based upon the premise that bullies are rewarded by earning higher social status because of their bullying. The program encourages bystanders to show that they are against bullying and to support the target.

Many school anti-bully programs show marginal results but a large scale 2011 study showed that KiVa halved the risk of bullying others and of being victimized in just one school year. Substantial decreases also emerged for other antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism, theft, and truancy, in addition to an increase in general satisfaction with school life.

Science Daily reports that an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Kansas (KU) plan to bring the KiVa program to American schools. Starting as early as the 2012-13 school year, a pilot program could kick off in selected classrooms in Lawrence, Kan. If shown to be successful there, the model could expand nationally..

Sandra Fluke was right, by the way. Not only do women use contraception to prevent unwanted pregnacy, but they also use it to treat diverse medical conditions, including dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, metrorrhagia, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

KiVa: Teaching Bystanders to Care

One of the most hurtful things about workplace bullying is the isolation felt by the target when co-workers run for cover or, worse, support the bully.

A new school anti-bullying program developed in Finland in 2007 is proving to be surprisingly successful in eliminating bullying by focusing upon the bystanders who witness the bullying but do nothing.

The program KiVa, is based upon the premise that bullies are rewarded by earning higher social status because of their bullying. The program encourages bystanders to show that they are against bullying and to support the target. KiVA empowers students to defend targets through skill-building and education, including 20 hours of activities such as discussion, group work, films, role-playing, and computer exercises.

KiVa was developed at the University of Turku, Finland, with funding from Finlands’ Ministry of Education and Culture. In Finland, 90 % of all comprehensive schools are implementing the KiVa program. The KiVa program won the European Crime Prevention Award in 2009.

KiVa takes a holistic approach to the bullying problem, including a rigorous classroom curriculum, videos, posters, a computer game and role-play exercises that are designed to make schools inhospitable to bullying.

When bullying episodes occur, a small team of trained employees addresses the incident with the victim and bully or bullies to ensure bullying stops. Peers of the victim are challenged to provide support for the victimized classmate.

“It changes the rewards structure,” said Patricia Hawley, KU associate professor of developmental psychology.. “At the end of the day, the goals of the bully are like yours and mine — they want friendship and status. They have human goals, not pathological ones. With KiVa, bystanders are set up to win by intervening, and their status can go up. As a bystander, I can achieve goals of friendship and status by standing up to a bully.”

The implications of the KiVa model for the workforce are obvious. What if employers approached the problem of bullying holistically, with the goal of insuring that bullying behavior is not rewarded? Teams of employees could be trained to address individual complaints, and co-workers could be encouraged to show empathy and support to targets. Who knows? Maybe employers, like schools, would find their efforts rewarded by improved morale and substantial decreases in other antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism, theft, and truancy. Wouldn’t that alone be worth the effort?

KiVa is a Finnish acronym for Kiusaamista Vastaan, “against bullying”)