We, the author and team of the site, are against thoughtlessly filling Russian speech with “barbarisms” — foreign words. But why, then, do we suggest using the borrowings “mobbing”, “bullying”, “bossing”, “cybermobbing” instead of changing them to the words “persecution”, “bullying”, “harassment”, “harassment by superiors”, “harassment and bullying on the Internet” that are familiar to Russians? I will try to explain our point of view.
The fact is that “mobbing” and “bullying” are terms that are also used in legal practice. “Mobbing” in Europe and in some US states is already an “article” for “mobbers”. And the words “bullying” and “persecution” have an emotional connotation. You can even call them words that are symbols of Russian culture: they have not fallen into disuse for centuries, do not become obsolete and do not give way to their foreign counterparts. Their centuries-old stability is one of the reasons for the “victimization” of Russian consciousness. However, they are not terms or concepts and do not entail any legal consequences for torturers and persecutors.
“Mobbing” is a world-famous term that refers to a widespread social phenomenon that has stable characteristics and stereotypical ways of influencing the “victim”. In some countries, “mobbing” is an administrative offense, and victims of “mobbing” are protected by the best lawyers, since it is very difficult to establish the fact of “mobbing”. If an employee proves in court that he was mobbed or bullied by a team, employer or colleague, his torturers face punishment ranging from a fine to dismissal.
In Europe and the US, a lot of attention is paid to the prevention of mobbing. I first heard the word “mobbing” two years ago when my student returned from Germany and told me that she was amazed at the widespread use of the concept “mobbing”, which was new to her in society. She saw this word everywhere: at the institute, in print and electronic media, in advertising, and on social networks. And in support of her words, German search engines gave us a wonderful “harvest” of psychological sites with hotlines to help victims of mobbing (for example,http://mobbing-schluss-damit.de/).
I then explained the Germans' special attention to mobbing by the fact that it was due to the large number of immigrants and the division of the country into “socialist” — Eastern Germany and “capitalist” — Western Germany. It is well known that “Western” Germans are considered “outsiders” in the east of the country, and “Eastern” Germans are considered “outsiders” in the West. But both fit the stereotypes of persecution outlined in René Gerard's book The Scapegoat (cf. Books). East Germans are often not exactly “friends” to Western Germans (and vice versa), but they are not exactly “outsiders” either; they are simply trying to establish themselves or gain a foothold in their profession on “foreign” territory and compete with those who have lived on these lands from time immemorial. At the time, I thought that this social phenomenon was unique to Germany. But then why do they use a word of English origin to refer to it? I called a relative of mine in Norway to make sure that the word “mobbing” had also been heard in the homeland of trolls (those still miraculously magical). It turned out that she and her little son were well acquainted with both the concept itself and the social phenomenon it meant. The fact is that on the eve of the new academic year, parents and students sign a trilateral agreement with the school administration, which warns all parties that the perpetrator will be punished by law for violence and harassment in any form (mobbing/bullying) for the first incident (Sweden also has this practice and anti-mobbing law).
If such socially prosperous European countries learn about mobbing from the cradle, does this indicate the scale and danger of the phenomenon itself? Yes, definitely. Since the mid-1990s, it suddenly became clear to everyone that this was not about isolated cases of harassment and bullying at the workplace, but about an epidemic called “mobbing” that threatened to develop into a social pandemic. Dr. Harvey Hornstein, a professor of organizational social psychology at Columbia University College of Education, estimates in his book Brutal Bosses and Their Prey that 20 million Americans are mistreated at work every day, and it's time to talk about an epidemic. The situation in the UK is no better. Back in 1996, the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) published the first results of a bullying survey. One in eight British employees, about three million people, has been the victim of workplace bullying. More than half of the respondents said that bullying is a daily practice in their company. In 1998, one in six British workers already considered themselves a victim of bullying. According to a study by the University of Staffordshire, 53% of British employees (approximately 14 million people) have been bullied at work during their employment. Bullying researcher Tim Field estimates that bullying costs the UK thirty billion euros a year.
That is why specialists — lawyers, psychologists, sociologists, scientists, journalists — have become interested in phenomena called “mobbing”/“bullying” since the mid-1990s. Publications in scientific journals began to appear, several books were written, several dozen websites and forums were created where people who were attacked or thought they were being bullied could find answers to their questions, psychological support and legal assistance (for example, in the US, this site: http://www.mobbing-usa.com/). It is clear that the process of globalization has also affected the use of words that unite people around the world. For example, fortunately, we are all united by the Internet as an international language unit and as a means of communication. But, unfortunately, we are also united by mobbing, a concept and a social phenomenon that violates individual rights and self-esteem. Using the words “mobbing” and “bullying” in our speech, we seem to be falling under the banner of all progressive humanity fighting this shameful manifestation of our animal instinct — to drive away and attack the weak/strong/others with the whole herd. But how many Russian speakers use this word in their speech and are ready to join the ranks of anti-mobbers around the world?
Two years ago, when I first heard my student say the word “mobbing”, I typed it in Russian letters into my browser's search bar. Imagine my surprise when the Internet gave me only two or three links using it! All the egregious cases of emotional and sometimes physical violence I found in the blogosphere have never been identified by their victims or, rather, as witnesses of persecution such as “mobbing”, “bullying”, “kibbermobbing”. How is it so? The phenomenon itself takes place and blooms in full bloom in the former USSR, but there is no concept that defines it, just as there is no corresponding article of the law? Even today, the word “bullying” is most often used on social networks, with “persecution” being the second most used word. Agree that the statement “me/he was completely harassed in the office” sounds more relevant than the phrase “me/he was persecuted in the office”, which seems very pretentious. The word “persecution” comes “to rest” from the active vocabulary of our contemporary. Not only is it not included in speeches with the words “office”, “manager”, “school” and “institute”, but it also elevates victims of cyber or office bullying, placing them among martyrs who have suffered, for example, for their Christian faith or political beliefs. On the one hand, this is a good thing — victims of bullying and persecution should really improve their self-esteem, but the question arises: “What should they do next?” Contact lawyers and start a “libel case” (see para. Laws)? But any lawyer will tell you that it is extremely difficult to establish the fact of a despicable slander or reservation. In addition, defamation is one of the many “guises” of mobbing. Slander never comes alone — it always comes handy with “intentional actions that cause concern”, “hostile acts”, “aggression”, “harassment”, “insults”, “annoying actions”, “attacks”, “hindrances”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “hindrances”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “hindrances”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “hindrances”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks”, “attacks For all these actions, there is the word “harassment” in English (harassment) — harassment, harassment. Many people are well aware of the concept sexual harassment — sexual assault at work, which can be one of the conditions for mobbing at the workplace (see article “The causes, conditions and signs of mobbing in the workplace” ). Sexual harassment — this is a criminal act. The very word “harassment” in phrases indicates actions that can be prosecuted by law: act of harassment (act of aggression, harassment, hostile action); engage of harassment (insult, harass); harassment of subordinates (“bullying”); racial harassment; telephone harassment (telephone hooliganism). There is a corresponding article of the law for each of these illegal actions. Together, they are signs of mobbing. So it turns out that it is much easier to prove American “harassment” than Russian slander. It is a wonderful initiative to conduct trainings for teachers in Moscow on the prevention of bullying. However, I would very much like the Anti-Mobbing/Bullying Act to help teachers, school administrators and students themselves. So far, these are only unfamiliar words that mean very sad events for schoolchildren with far-reaching consequences. And although, two years after I first heard these words, the search engine already returns dozens of pages mentioning the words “mobbing/bullying”, on social media and in real life, people still shout: “This is real bullying! This is sheer slander!” and they hardly ever take the matter to court. What can I do? The word “bullying” is indestructible, just as the phenomenon itself is indestructible. But I am sure that as soon as these barbarisms and torturers appear in the active dictionary of a modern Russian-speaking person, they will shudder and pacify them, at least for a while, until anti-mobbing laws are adopted. I advocate preserving the Russian language, but, nevertheless, I suggest introducing concepts ”mobbing” et ”bullying” into legislation. And in order to do this, it is necessary to develop vocabulary that will explain criminal actions, just as the word “harassment” does in English.
First, I suggest recalling only nouns that indicate the characteristics of a working person, the system of official relations in the workplace and the characteristics of his pursuers who are ready to slander and denigrate a person for their own purpose, turning their advantages into disadvantages. The Great Explanatory Dictionary of Russian Nouns (under the general editorship of Professor L.G. Babenko) came to my aid (Moscow: AST Press, 2005, Chapter 38 “Social Relations”). I have divided these nouns into headings that will allow you to compose possible images of mobbing victims, images of mobber himself, and point out signs (even indirect) of actions that fall under the definition of mobbing/bullying.
The victim of mobbing/bullying can be
As a result of mobbing/bullying, each of these employees, without any evidence, based only on false information confirmed by employees, can be accused by their mobbers of:
And here are the nouns that make up the generalized image of mobbers:
It is impossible to imagine the actions of these mobbers without the instigator, the initiator, who, as a rule, is a leader who, with someone else's hands, drags “coals out of the fire” in an attempt to save face, but in fact he:
Nouns characterizing the actions of mobbers in relation to the victim of mobbing and in relation to their superiors, the instigator and instigator of mobbing/bullying:
All of this was made possible by
They were nouns. Now it's up to the verbs and actions of those who can stop mobbers and prevent mobbing by adopting anti-mobbing laws.
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