Abstract
This chapter conceptualizes workplace cyberbullying, with special reference on workplace cyberbullying perpetrated on working women. It shares various causative factors that lead to workplace cyberbullying on women. The situation across the world and with special reference to Indian situations on the social menace of workplace cyberbullying on working women and the traumatizing causatives are discussed in detail. Research reports and survey reports conducted across the world and in India related to workplace cyberbullying are discussed in detail. The psychological issues, socio-psychological triggers that induce bullying on women is discussed with the methods the bullies are inflicting on the victim across the world and with special reference to Indian working situations are analyzed in detail.
TopIntroduction
Conceptualizing cyberbullying in the context of working women is gaining attention across the world (O'Neill & Dinh, 2013), and the technology, structure, technical infrastructure, and the physical proximity are inducing cyberbullying amongst women (Ybarra, Mitchell, Wolak, & Finkelhor, 2006). Workplace cyberbullying is common and it is evolving in subtle ways that makes it difficult to explain (Callaghan, Kelly, & Molcho, 2014). According to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCP) of the U.S., cyberbullying is understood as perpetrators using digital modes like the Internet, cell phones, or other digital devices to send or post text or messages to hurt or embarrass another person (Baynes, 2018, p. 138). The act of workplace cyberbullying is an act of aggression, or an act, which is intentional to harm a group or an individual, using electronic forms of contact repeatedly overtime against a victim (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2007, pp. 319-336). According to the Department of Education and Mental Health, workplace cyberbullying is an act of unwanted physical or verbal aggression inflicted by the perpetrator on the victim, that goes repeated for a long time, and it also involves an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim (Hinduja & Patchin, 2007, p. 89-112; National Children's Home, 2005). Workplace cyberbullying is also characterized by the bully using their higher social status over the victim to exert power to hurt (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2007), harass, name-call, gossip, spreading out rumours, threats or other forms of intimidation to the victim in the workplace (Duggan, 2017). In the case of workplace cyberbullying on women, it is increasing phenomenally in the digital age, wherein the mobile phones, social media platforms, and use of digital platforms to threaten through emails, or blogs over the Internet (Kowalski & Limber, 2007). Workplace cyberbullying on women can also be understood as a situation, wherein over a period, a woman employee is purposely and repeatedly subjected to negative actions like bullying or harassing women. The act usually happens by verbally, or digitally abusing them through gadgets or e-platforms (e.g, phone, email, web sites and social media) related to their work (Farley, Coyne, Sprigg, Axtell, & Subramanian, 2016), because of this situation, the working women face difficulty in defending themselves against these actions and feel embarrassed and are broken psychologically (Farley, Coyne, Sprigg, Axtell, & Subramanian, 2016).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Reactive Bullying: This kind of workplace bullying involves the bully responding to being a former victim by picking on others.
Relational Bullying: One way of bullying in the workplace, when a working women is purposefully excluding someone of a peer group, usually through verbal threats, spreading rumors and other forms of intimidation that brings down the morale of women in work.
Intimidating: Psychologically creating a situation to make the victim frighten or overawe (someone), especially in order to make them do what one wants.
Hazing: Any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule and risks emotional and/or physical harm to members of a group or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person's willingness to participate.
Impersonation: A workplace harassment that the bullies use as an act of pretending to be another person for the purpose of entertainment or fraud.
Work Ethic: These are the moral principles that are used in the job, the working people needs to use in their job which can be strong, weak or mediocre, which embodies certain principles of work culture that can guide the workers, and control worker behavior to a certain extent, and can lead to high quality outcome, and makes workers to be on track.
Cyberstalking: Kind of bullying that happens when any form of bullying or harassing with the use of electronic communication and it is used for threatening a victim.
Doxing: Is a kind of cyberbullying in the workplace or any place where the bullies search for and publish private or identifying information about a particular individual on the Internet, typically with malicious intent.