Harassment at work, or moral harassment, has become very common in recent years, it is an emerging phenomenon in social and professional life that requires rigorous treatment due to the multiple consequences it can cause.
This situation not only causes psychological problems, but can also affect the performance of the professional activity and the environment of the person who suffers from it, being a situation, in most cases, difficult to prove.
- Workplace harassment.
- Or bullying.
- Is any manifestation of abusive behavior.
- Particularly behaviour.
- Words.
- Actions.
- Gestures and written words that can damage a person’s personality.
- Dignity or physical or psychological integrity.
- As well as endanger their employment or affect environmental work (Marie-France Hirigoyen.
- 1999).
Moral harassment at work can not only destroy the work environment and/or reduce productivity, but can also promote absenteeism, due to the psychological stress it causes, considered an abuse of power. The person who puts it into practice seeks only to maintain its power in situations where the victim is a threat for some reason.
The elements that define the character that often arise in a situation of moral abuse at work are:
Moral harassment often occurs in the inocuous way, with a series of behaviors aimed at offending, ridiculing and isolating the victim of the group, spreading insidiously; as long as it stays in time, the goal is to psychologically destabilize and destroy the person, so that the person either leaves his job “voluntarily”.
In most cases it is a circular process in which a series of deliberate behaviors on the part of the aggressor trigger anxiety and stress in the victim, initially causing a defensive attitude, which in turn will generate new aggressions and lead to impotent behaviors over the hour.
At first, the harassed person or victim generally does not take the clues or humiliations seriously, as if he or she did not want to be offended, but when the attacks multiply in both time and frequency, the victim feels trapped, placing himself in a lower position. , dominated by fear, where she loses a part of herself.
For her, the accuser uses different strategies, such as rejecting direct communication, disqualifying and disqualifying “joke calls. “Or the accusation of unnecessary and degrading tasks, inducing mistakes or sometimes even sexual harassment. All with a common basis: the use of each other’s weakness to make him doubt himself, to nullify his defenses.
Workplace harassment generally results in a deterioration in health and family, professional and social life, until it can lead to physical and/or psychological illnesses and disabilities. the possibility that it will become chronic over time.
Symptoms may occur
Thus, its consequences are negative for the individual, for the company and for society at large, increasingly extending the idea of the need for interventions. The role of psychology is fundamental in these situations to provide resources and strategies to get out of this situation, as well as build self-esteem through adequate psychological support.
In these cases it is important to address the situation from a health perspective, but also from a professional and/or legal perspective to put an end to it, the important thing is that the person takes the necessary steps as quickly as possible.
In terms of health, seeking the help of a doctor or psychologist will help the victim cope, either to compensate for or reduce negative effects. At the labour level, it is recommended to inform workers’ representatives of the facts, the occupational risk prevention service, the company’s health and safety committee or the labour inspection secretariat. Finally, as an external route, the appeal would be the complaint.
The problem is how complicated it is to show objective evidence of the situation, so the important thing in these cases is to gather as much information and evidence as possible.
Recommended book
-Hirigoyen, Monday to Friday (1999). Moral hazard. Barcelona. Paidus.