Mobbing in the context of human beings means bullying of an individual by a group in any context, such as a family,
friends, peers, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, or online.
When it occurs as emotional abuse in the workplace, such as
"ganging up" by co-workers, subordinates or superiors, to
force someone out of the workplace through rumor,
innuendo, intimidation, humiliation, discrediting, and
isolation, it is also referred to as malicious, nonsexual, nonracial,
general harassment.
In the workplaceIn the book MOBBING: Emotional
Abuse in the American Workplace, the authors identify mobbing as a particular type of bullying that is
not as apparent as most, defining it as "...an emotional assault. It
begins when an individual becomes the target of disrespectful and
harmful behavior. Through innuendo, rumors, and public
discrediting, a hostile environment is created in which one individual
gathers others to willingly, or unwillingly, participate in
continuous malevolent actions to force a person out of the
workplace."
The authors say that mobbing is typically
found in work environments that have
poorly organized production and/or
working methods and incapable or inattentive management and that mobbing victims are usually "exceptional
individuals who demonstrated intelligence,
competence, creativity, integrity,
accomplishment and dedication".
At school
Following on from the work of Heinemann,
Elliot identifies mobbing as a common
phenomenon in the form of group bullying at school. It involves
'ganging up' on someone using tactics of rumor, innuendo,
discrediting, isolating, intimidating, and
above all, making it look as if the targeted person is responsible
(victim blaming).
In academia
Kenneth Westhues' study of mobbing in academia found that vulnerability was
increased by personal differences such as being a foreigner or of a different sex; by
working in fields such as music or literature which have recently come under the sway of less objective and
more post-modern scholarship; financial pressure; or having an aggressive
superior. Other factors included envy, heresy and campus politics.