From the course: Handling Workplace Bullying
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Bystander vs. reinforcer
- Many of my colleagues use the word bystander or witness to describe the employees who know about or see bullying occurring. We see those words all the time online too, but I have a different word, reinforcer. Let me tell you why that's a better description. The words bystander or witness are passive words, you can witness a car accident, and you can be a bystander, but there's nothing you can do about it. You're certainly not going to jump in between the two cars to keep them from crashing. But at work, you can step in. And each day you make that conscious decision not to, you are sending a clear message that the behavior will be tolerated. You are reinforcing the behavior with your implicit permission given with your silence. Bullying doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's not just about those two people involved, it's a social phenomenon, and you're a part of the phenomenon if it's happening in your workplace. Now, I understand why people make that conscious decision each day not to…
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