Tough Bananas?

In the last few years, the topic of bullying has rocketed into the headlines to become a subject of great concern among educators, police agencies and personnel departments. While our book does not address the topic of bullying in the way it is so often portrayed in popular culture and media, we do endeavor to contextualize the phenomenon within the complex system that is the Primal Process.

Nevertheless, ours is not the only approach to the topic of bullying. So in the spirit of providing a broader cross-section of perspectives, a necessary ingredient in helping to cultivate the Integrating Self Function by the way, as a service to you, we provide six additional sources which you might find useful. The first is a 14-minute overview video that frames the bullying topic within the workplace. This is followed by two short videos by Gary Namie from the Workplace Bullying Institute. In one of these, he outlines what he sees as four types of bullies. Up next is Professor Clive Boddy from Middlesex University Business School in London who looks at the relationship between psychopaths and bullying. We then shift over to Simon Baron Cohen from Cambridge University, who looks at the brain aspects of empathy, autism and psychopathy. To wrap it all up, we conclude with Scilla Elworthy and her heart-centered ISF talk about how do deal with a bully without becoming a thug. Enjoy.

THE WORKPLACE BULLYING INSTITUTE, based in Bellingham, Washington, was established by social psychologist Gary Namie and Ruth Namie. Over the course of their work, they have identified four bullying personality types. The WBI also played a role in conducting the 2014 US Workplace Bullying Survey.

Dr. Gary Namie on Workplace Bullying: What it is and is not

Gary Namie – The Four Workplace Bully Types

Clive Boddy, a Professor of Leadership and Organisation Behaviour, Middlesex University Business School, London, provides another interesting take on the subject in a TEDx talk entitled “Bullying and Corporate Psychopaths at Work”.

Next is Simon Baron Cohen – Professor of Development Psychopathology, and Director of the Autism Research Centre at Cambridge University. His talk is entitled “The Erosion of Empathy”.

Finally, we come to Scilla Elworthy and her fine talk entitled “How do I deal with a bully without becoming a thug?”