We tend to think of bullying as a school-age phenomenon. But that's naive. If you've ever been bullied at work, you know that. But if you haven't--well, you might be the bully yourself, or you might be a bystander who looks the other way and while trying to rationalize your silence, or you might just be oblivious. But odds are, when you go to work, there are bullies in your midst. And odds are, no one is doing anything about it.

Researchers at SUNY New Paltz and Wayne State recently devised this Workplace Aggression Research Questionnaire:

In the past six months have you regularly:

--Been glared at in a hostile manner?
--Been excluded from work-related social gatherings?
--Had others storm out of the work area when you entered?
--Had others consistently arrive late for meetings that you called?
--Been given the “silent treatment”?
--Not been given the praise for which you felt entitled?
--Been treated in a rude or disrespectful manner?
--Had others refuse your requests for assistance?
--Had others fail to deny false rumors about you?
--Been given little or no feedback about your performance?
--Had others delay action on matters that were important to you?
--Been yelled at or shouted at in a hostile manner?
--Been subjected to negative comments about your intelligence or competence?
--Had others consistently fail to return your telephone calls or respond to your memos or e-mail?
--Had your contributions ignored by others?
--Had someone interfere with your work activities?
--Been subjected to mean pranks?
--Been lied to?
--Had others fail to give you information that you really needed?
--Been denied a raise or promotion without being given a valid reason?
--Been subjected to derogatory name calling?
--Been the target of rumors or gossip?
--Shown little empathy or sympathy when you were having a tough time?
--Had co-workers fail to defend your plans or ideas to others?
--Been given unreasonable workloads or deadlines--more than others?
--Had others destroy or needlessly take resources that you needed to do your job?
--Been accused of deliberately making an error?
--Been subjected to temper tantrums when disagreeing with someone?
--Been prevented from expressing yourself (for example, interrupted when speaking)?
--Had attempts made to turn other employees against you?
--Had someone flaunt his or her status or treat you in a condescending manner?
--Had someone else take credit for your work or ideas?
--Been reprimanded or "put down" in front of others?

The cynic may say, "Well, we're all victims according to these criteria! This is just a description of the modern workplace!" But that's a sign of ignorance on the part of the cynic. The person who has been there knows very well that being on the receiving end of workplace bullying, particularly when the experience is prolonged, institutionally sustained, and irremediable, is a life-altering experience.

Academic bullying--or mobbing, as University of Waterloo sociologist Kenneth Westhues prefers, with good reason, to call it, since bullies tend to attract followers and since institutional policy and procedure are often major forces in academe's special sort of scapegoating--has not gotten the attention it deserves. Cases tend to be treated as just that: isolated cases. And often the bullying or mobbing component is obscured by an analysis of the political dimensions of the case: FIRE's work, read through another lens, amounts to an amazing archive of academic bullying and mobbing, complete with meticulous documentation of how the personal animus of the bullies (often "accusers") gets routinely transformed into the bland, bureaucratic proceduralism of administrators who believe they are simply implementing policy to protect victims (who are often actually aggressors masquerading as victims).

Power flows in intriguing ways in such cases. Brandeis has recently supplied us with a classic instance of students bullying a professor--and administrators rushing in to escalate the bullying into full-on institutional mobbing. Then there is the case of Steve Hinkle, the Cal Poly student who was nearly expelled for posting a flyer featuring the title of a book by an upcoming speaker. Students started the ball rolling against Hinkle--but it was administrators who really did the attacking. And they did it all in the name of neutral application of policy.

It's remarkable to realize that when bureaucratized, bullying can take place in the absence of a clear bully. Under the guise of implementing policy, administrators are exonerated, cleansed, made blandly blameless for their considerable cruelty. Hannah Arendt described this sort of thing as the "banality of evil."

For more on academic bullying, check out this dedicated blog.