Bully in sight
How to predict, resist, challenge and combat workplace bullying
Overcoming the silence and denial by which abuse thrives
by
Tim Field
Foreword by Diana Lamplugh OBE
ISBN 0952912104
Paperback, 16 chapters, 384 pages, resources, index

"Thank you for writing Bully in sight ... it's like a torch in the darkness." (survivor)

"Poor management is a major cause of stress."
Dr Peter Graham, Head of Health Directorate, UK Health & Safety Executive, 24 September 1998

The work of Sapolsky et al has shown that chronic stress can lead to prolonged activation of the stress response resulting in permanently raised glucocorticoid levels which may cause damage to the hippocampus, an area of the brain linked to learning and memory. The regulatory and control mechanism of the stress response may itself be damaged.

Stress is not the employee's inability to cope with excessive demands, but a consequence of the employer's failure to provide a safe system of work as required by the UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Blaming the sufferer of stress for suffering stress is an admission of failure to fulfil this obligation of duty of care. There's only one way of dealing with stress - that's to identify the cause of stress and then work to reduce or eliminate that cause. Bully in sight identifies bullying as the main - but least recognised - cause of stress, and gives you the insight and confidence to tackle the causes.

Times Educational Supplement said
"Will be eagerly read by those waiting for an update [to Andrea Adams' book]"

Nursing Times said
"Powerful, compassionate, practical"

"Your book has totally validated my bullying experience and with the turning of each page I became more enlightened."
(Survivor of bullying)

Click here for more readers' comments and feedback

For those being bullied, Bully in sight...

• Validates your experience of bullying when all around you are denying it
• Enables you to regain your sanity, stability and objectivity
• Shows you that you are not alone in your experience of being bullied
• Confirms, identifies and describes the injury to health caused by bullying and harassment
• Enables you to overcome the feelings of shame, embarrassment, fear and guilt that bullies use to control you
• Re-empowers you with insight and information
• Enables you to regain control of yourself, your situation, and your life
• Helps you restart your existing career or start on the path to a new career
• Provides the means for you to break the bully's hold over you
• Helps partner, family, friends and colleagues understand the hell you are experiencing
• Provides valuable information on the legal process with case law for constructive dismissal
• Is packed with insight, ideas and direction, plus sources of help and suggested reading
• Is written in plain English and is easy to read

For those tackling bullying, Bully in sight...

• Tells you how to beat the bullies
• Reveals bullying as a major but largely unrecognised cause of stress
• Demolishes the myth that bullying is tough management
• Tells you how to identify, expose and deal with the serial bully
• Describes how abusers control their victims
• Identifies bullying as the underlying behaviour of harassment, discrimination, prejudice, abuse and violence
• Shows what happens when legislation is inadequate

"After a long meeting at which I portrayed my boss's behaviour for what it was - that of a bully - and described how I now felt, he then suggested that I was perhaps `mentally ill'. Unfortunately I didn't have the wit or insight at the time to make it unambiguously and unequivocally clear that the state of my mental health was a direct consequence of his behaviour. In missing this opportunity, I was in danger of falling into the mental health trap. I was fortunate that his amateur diagnosis was treated with the contempt it deserved by the health professionals within the company. Many people are not so fortunate"

"It felt as though our company had developed an unwritten policy that achievement of budget targets was paramount, and if there were a few human casualties on the way, that was unfortunate, but an acceptable price to pay. As one of the casualties, I beg to differ."

Employees quoted in Bully in sight

In this ground-breaking book, you will learn

• what workplace bullying is, where, why and how it goes on
• if you're being bullied, over 80 ideas for tackling bullying
• simple but effective phrases to defend yourself against the bullies
• how to regain control, dignity and self-respect
• how to use existing law to obtain justice, including relevant case law to quote
• how bullies get away with it again and again - and what you can do about it
• how to successfully defend yourself against unjustified disciplinary action
• the predictable bullying process, common bully tactics, and how to counter them
• the foreseeable horrific psychiatric injuries caused by bullying
• how to spot the mental health trap - and turn it to your advantage
• how to tell the difference between mental illness and psychiatric injury - and how knowing this can dramatically improve your chances of a successful outcome with compensation
• advice on how to recognise the symptoms of bullying, even when the target cannot explain what is happening to them - and why
• the principal reasons why and how bullies choose their targets
• guidance on how to tell who is lying when it's one word against another
• why bullies bully whilst others become targets
• the main reasons why people "allow" bullying to go on
• the difference between management and bullying
• the circumstances that stimulate and perpetuate bullying
• why bullying has got a lot worse in the last ten years
• how to arm yourself with knowledge to avoid being bullied in future
• an answer to the perplexing question of why bullies see their target as a threat when no threat exists
• if you're a bystander or observer, learn to see through the superficial air of normality to see the hidden abuse
• how bullying behaviours are present behind prejudice, discrimination, harassment, abuse, persecution, conflict and violence
• the different types of bullying, including corporate bullying and serial bullying
• the nine moral issues raised by bullying and on which society must derive a consensus
• for employers: find out who is the main cause of stress, how much the serial bully is costing you, and what you can do about it
• the cost of bullying and stress to employers, industry and taxpayers

Bully in sight is in two parts; part one describes and defines bullying, part two tells you what you can do about it.

Part 1: what is bullying?

Chapter 1: overview, common excuses and euphemisms, why bullying happens, what can be done
Chapter 2: bullying in education, the consequences of the imposition of league tables, the disastrous effects of OFSTED
Chapter 3: what bullying is, how bullying manifests itself, the predictable process of bullying, what to do about it, serial bullying, bullying phases, bully behaviours, how bullies get away with it, denial
Chapter 4: characteristics of the bullying manager, bully behaviours
Chapter 5: the bully's hold explained, physical bullying, maintaining the hold, conscience, compulsive lying, psychopathic personality, bully sayings, bully profile, facing up to the bully
Chapter 6: bullying strategies and tactics revealed
Chapter 7: how the target thinks, feels and reacts, how bullies select targets, resistance to subjugation, what to watch out for, how and why people put up with bullying, profile of the bullied person
Chapter 8: effects of bullying on health, hypervigilance, the downward spiral, thoughts of suicide, the mental health trap, mental illness versus psychiatric injury, stress breakdown, shock, trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Prolonged Duress Stress Disorder (PDSD), stress and the body, ill-health resulting from bullying, effects on relationships, recovery, recognition and validation, moving on
Chapter 9: cost of bullying and stress to the employer, individuals and their families, and to taxpayers
Chapter 10: identifying the causes of bullying, what stimulates bullying, corporate bullying, benefits of regular reorganisation, perceived poor management, cutting costs by cutting staff, abuse of work force, culture and image, clues to look for, why people bully

Part 2: how to challenge and combat workplace bullying

Chapter 11: how to identify and expose the bully, the 15-step unmasking process
Chapter 12: standing up for yourself, options, making a choice, behaving assertively, simple and effective assertive defences against the bully, handling criticism, dealing with guilt
Chapter 13: what to do if you're being bullied, practical advice from co-operation through conciliation to negotiation, confrontation and legal action
Chapter 14: using the law, laws relevant to bullying, the UK court system, industrial tribunals, what you need to know about constructive dismissal, time limits, previous tribunal decisions, case law relevant to bullying, liability, predecessors, preparing your case
Chapter 15: the nine moral issues raised by bullying
Chapter 16: taking action, the way forward, why employers need to take action now, helping the target, helping the bully, action for employers, setting up a non-bullying policy, the law and bullying, society's way forward

Resources: recommended reading, details of groups and organisations tackling bullying
Index

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