Community bullying
Community bullying or Jurisdictional bullying goes by many names and is
well know through out the world. In Europe it is called group mobbing
in other places it goes by other names like neighborhood bullying,
group bullying, group stalking, organized bullying, organized stalking
and so on. Group bullying and grouping mobbing also refers to workplace
bullying and the events that separate neighborhood bullying and
workplace bullying are vague at best. In both cases, the bullying
involves a large number of people.
Community bullying can only take place in a community where the
leadership is dysfunctional, incompetent and uncoordinated. Where there
is an inconsistent enforcement of rules and regulations and where
favoritism, discrimination and segregation are practiced in a subtle
manner. Community leaders are usually absent from the daily activities
of the community and are only interested in pleasing the majority of
people while ignoring the rest.
Beliefs and or attitudes that favor bullying might include:
• Bullying behavior is okay because to some degree it is normal.
• If people don't report being bullied, bullying behaviors must not be occurring.
• It is not my job or responsibility to deal with bullying issues.
• The person being bullied deserves it.
• I'm not a bully and I don't get bullied so it's not my problem.
• People should learn to handle their own disputes without assistance.
• Only rats tell on people.
• People who ask for help when being bullied are wimps.
• The situation is hopeless.
• Weak people deserve to be bullied.
Community factors that foster bullying:
• Lack of support from law enforcement.
• Belief that we live in a safe community so bad things cannot happen here.
• Belief that we live in a bad community so bullying is normal and acceptable.
• Lack of community spirit e.g. "I'm not getting involved".
On the internet, the definition for Neighborhood bullying in the Wikipedia is;
Between neighbors, bullying
normally takes the form of intimidating behavior, such as excessive
noise to disturb sleep and other normal living patterns, and reports to
authorities, such as the police, for minor or made-up incidents. The
purpose of this behavior is to make the victim so uncomfortable that
they move from their property. This is also known jurisdiction bullying.
Most bullying can be traced back to one person in the Community. When
the bully realizes you’re out to expose them, they will be
angrier than ever and looking for ways to shut you up or shut you out.
The thing all bullies fear is a loss of power, and once you start to
fight back, they will be terrified that others will see just how weak
they really are. This is when things can get truly vicious, and you
should know what to expect from them. None of this is to say that you
shouldn't fight back, or that you can't win, but I don't want you to be
surprised by their reactions.
Community bullying has no age, gender, race, or work preference. It can
happen to anyone. It is a 'ganging up' on someone using the tactics of
rumor, innuendo, discrediting, isolating, intimidating, and above all,
making it look as if the targeted person is responsible. As is typical
of many abusive situations, the perpetrators maintain that the victim
'deserved it.'
Community bullying is emotional abuse that can result in depression,
isolation, paranoia, physical and/or emotional illness, suicide, or
violent acts of retaliation. At the very least, it leaves permanent
scars. Many targets suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
There is always injury.
Promoting Hatred
Most cases of community bullying involve a serial bully, one individual
that all hardship can be attributed to. Chances are very slim that a
serial bully will recognize their behavior as bullying. Unless they are
the type of bully who revels in their reputation as the baddest person
in the Community (and there are some people like this), they will
probably be completely oblivious to the fact that they are behaving
badly. In most bullies minds they are being perfectly reasonable, given
the fact that they don't like their targets and want them to go away.
The final act and perhaps the most damaging is promoting hatred against
the target. The purpose of this is to ostracize the target family from
the community, and try to entice others in the community to join in the
attacks against the target family. Promoting hatred is usually
accomplished with lies, distortions of the truth and rumors.
One of the worst effects of the promoting of hatred is the attacks from
people seeming unrelated to the situation. Serial bullies will have
many connections some in government and possibly in law enforcement and
friends. The bully will tell these people about you and ask them to
spread the word. This will result in an uncontrolled wave of hatred
being spread about you and your family. Serious actions could result as
less intelligent but more aggressive individuals decide you need to be
taught a lesson. You may find yourself subjected to vandalism, garbage
thrown on your property, landscaping destroyed, rude glares from
neighbors who used to smile when they saw you. You may find
yourself being followed in the community and confronted by people in
local stores, schools and community centers. When you walk into
community events, people will stop talking and just stare at you. You
will be made to feel uncomfortable everywhere you go.
You should be prepared to be disappointed in other people in the
Community because they either utterly refuse to take a stand, or they
take a stand against you because it's easier for them. Some people
won't admit to seeing the truth even if it comes up and bites them on
the nose, and they may take the bully's side because the bully is more
forceful than you are, and they are too wimpy to ask awkward questions.
You should expect to be the subject of gossip, because this is an adult
bully's weapon of choice. Don't be surprised if people act strange
around you, or unaccountably stop speaking to you.
Expect to hear that your bully is doing wonderful things in the
community. What they really do at this stage is damage control, and it
won't be long before they're back to their usual selves
Expect some people to be nosey about you, and to ask to hear your
story, but not necessarily directly from you. They most likely will ask
your closest friends (if you have any left) what's going on, and you
might want to brief them about what you want made public before this
happens
The bully will try to paint you as the aggressor and themselves as the
hapless victim of your bullying. The really sad part is that some
people will be gullible enough to believe their song and dance, and
will help to vilify you. Even if they are later proved wrong these
people will seldom admit it, or try to make amends because to do so
would be to admit their stupidity. Many people just don't have the
moral fiber to apologize when they've made a mistake.
Snubbing, isolation and alienation
Snubbing, isolation and alienation are common techniques bullies use to
separate the victim from a group of individuals or even an entire
community. Usually, isolation refers to social alienation in reference
to bullying, though some bullies may harass through physically
isolating a victim. Typically, alienation is achieved by giving the
victim the ‘silent treatment’ in conjunction with other
techniques, such as spreading rumors and gossip about the target,
ignoring them, preventing their access to the community or
destabilizing them. Full-scale ostracizing occurs when a head bully is
relentless in their pursuit of alienating a person. Ostracizing is one
of the hardest forms of bullying to deal with, as it can only really be
identified after the bullying has been successful.
General Covert Bullying
Of course, other forms of covert bullying exist that don’t
necessarily fall into the above categories, and which are difficult to
define. Sometimes, a person can bully simply using the movement of a
head, the rolling of the eyes, the shrug of the shoulders or even by
folding their arms. At other times, simple things a bully might do or
might not do may have a very negative impact upon the target through
means not immediately apparent.
Links
Bullying by Neighbors