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Much attention has been focused in recent times on workplace violence, whistleblowing and stress at work, but relatively little has been said about the links with bullying. In fact, it is only in the past few months that people have begun to take bullying seriously.

Workplace bullying is usually not mentioned by name, so employees wishing to find out about procedures in place to deal with it may have to refer to harassment policies, which do not mention actual bullying. Yet bullying is common in the workplace, including in social work education and social care settings. We should be shocked since all of us employed in such settings are supposed to be committed to the highest integrity, including vigilant anti-oppressive practice.

The problem is that people are reluctant to talk about it. There are several reasons for this. First, for an adult, complaining about the bullying behaviour of a colleague looks like "sneaking" (the ethics of the school playground). Second, if bullying behaviour is reported to managers it is re-framed as "so-and-so-and-so don't get on" or "it's a personality clash". Other colleagues mainly keep quiet. Relieved that they are not victims themselves, some will overtly or covertly support the bully because they wish to align themselves where the apparent power lies and distance themselves from those perceived as less influential. Third, the person being bullied feels inadequate since past school and present workplace cultures have led us to think that we ought to be able to deal with such events ourselves.

Try an experiment. In whatever group you find yourself, mention that you have had an experience of being bullied. You will be surprised by how many people - and what kind of people - admit to the experience. Very often, people will tell their stories: how at first they were in a state of disbelief; how it affected their health and family life; how it undermined their confidence; how reporting made it worse because then the bully stepped up his or her behaviour; and how the only solution was to leave when the work situation became unbearable.

In one case a woman was forced to leave her job after a 10-year campaign by a resentful and envious colleague. She had never been bullied before, always having enjoyed good working relationships. In a few lucky cases, the bully leaves, usually for promotion. We know that bullying does not stop until the bully or the bullied leaves, or the bully is dealt with and removed to another section: a rare occurrence.

People who are bullied are not sad or odd or "victim types". Studies have found that they are typically good at their work and popular and do not, in the main, have a victim's history. Why, then, should they become victims? These are some of the reasons, often in combination.

• They stand in the bully's way. Bullies like power, are ambitious and therefore single out their "obstacle" for attack, although the bully's "difficult behaviour", as it has been euphemistically called, may well occur with other colleagues.
• They are envied for abilities not possessed by the bully, such as successful work relationships, and being liked.
• They are in a higher organisational position which the bully resents and envies.
• They are in a junior or peer position and seen as easy targets.

As with most kinds of abuse, bullying is associated with male behaviour, and victims with females. It is true that women in general are less aggressive and more likely to be victims than perpetrators, but women can and do bully. Female bullying may take different forms. "Spiteful" behaviour may stereotypically be associated with women but it is used by men, too, although some literature emphasises the difference in gendered bullying styles.

Bullying takes many forms. Some of the literature lists pages of its different manifestations. It may be physical aggression (pushing or slapping), it may be close, threatening, physical proximity and banging on the desk with fists - which comes very near to actual violence. It includes shouting, belittling and undermining behaviour like disparaging a colleague's work efforts, taking away authority, isolation, spreading rumours, withdrawing resources, intercepting information, and making derogatory remarks to others.

Books and information guides provide long lists of effects, including having to move jobs, stress, and ill-health, loss of confidence and self-esteem, sleeplessness, feeling vulnerable, fragile and traumatised, and being frightened of what will happen next. Work suffers.

Most of us fear bullies. Many of us, if not directly a target, do not get involved. Managers have more important things to think about. Most literature about adult-to-adult bullying is written by victims and often reads like therapy for the author which, in part, it is. Very little is written by a bully (bullies are not brave and deny their bullying to themselves as well as to others). However, a number of academic studies are now taking place, which are likely to increase in number as bullying becomes accepted for the damaging experience it is and its long-lasting effects.

Bullying must be treated as dangerous behaviour, particularly when occurring in the helping professions. Bullies only continue bullying because their past actions have brought success, not censure. Colleagues and managers must be clear that the human targets of aggression need to be supported. The available evidence informs us that the bullied seek help away from the workplace through talking to friends, counselling and attending seminars. Unions are recognising the need to address bullying and it is currently being discussed, often under the umbrella of equal opportunities, as something on the rise in higher education establishments.

Since bullies rarely appear to seek help (why should they, if their behaviour brings success?), senior managers in organisations will need to direct them towards appropriate counselling and anger management training as a condition of continuing employment.

Employees who report bullying, often after trying to cope unsupported, are in this day and age more likely to be listened to. Also, an increasing amount of attention is given to the subject in the media.

Recently, Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 asserted that bullying must be classified and treated as violence. It is covered in the broadsheets' financial and business pages, where it is argued that those who employ aggressive tactics to gain advancement may no longer be considered entrepreneurial and admirable, but an impediment to teamwork, productivity and workplace harmony. Also, websites offering support and information are now well established.

Bullying is now recognised not as just a private matter of two or more individuals allegedly "not getting on" but as a considerable obstacle to attaining organisational goals. Bullying is a breach of the trust and confidence of employment contracts, and so if employers do not take action to stop it, they leave themselves open to cases of constructive dismissal. It is related to stress and upsets the work of teams. For those who are forced to resign or move to other jobs, it adversely affects their pockets. And, perhaps most important of all, bullying seriously damages health.

Katy Cigno is a former university academic and currently a practice teacher in social work. She writes in a personal capacity.

Sources of information and help
1 A Drew, “Equal opportunities: a view from the real world”, in Autlook: Bulletin of the Association of University Teachers, 216, 2002
2 T Field, Bully in Sight: How to Predict, Resist, Challenge and Combat Workplace Bullying. Overcoming the Silence and Denial by which Abuse Thrives, Success Unlimited, 1996
3 P Randall, Adult Bullying: Perpetrators and Victims, Routledge, 1997

Websites
www.successunlimited.co.uk  for an information guide and resources.
www.successunlimited.co.uk/bully/bully.htm for help for “victims” to understand why they are bullied.
www.successunlimited.co.uk/stress Deals particularly with injury to health caused by bullying and harassment.