Twenty-five Articles since 2006

on Mobbing in Academe

Compiled and annotated by Kenneth Westhues, University of Waterloo. As of 2010, this list is limited to articles published in English. Recommendations by email of additions to the list will be gratefully received.

Carla Gunn, "The Big Chill: Secrecy, Exclusion, and Collusion in Academic Committees," University Affairs (March 2010), p 96. While not directly focused on mobbing, an insightful reflection on the poisonous culture of collusion and factional politics out of which mobbing cases often arise.

Macgorine A. Cassell, "Bullying In Academe: Prevalent, Significant, and Incessant," IABR/ITLC Conference Proceedings, Orlando, FL, 2010). This lucid review and analysis of research on academic bullying and mobbing is directed to administrators, on the premise that "Sustaining a tolerant culture for abuse in any form undermines the very essence of a university."

Tara J. Palmatier, "Why Parental Alienation is the Act of an Emotionally Abusive Bully," mensnewsdaily (February 26, 2010). Short, imaginative, pointed application of research on workplace mobbing and bullying to the social dynamics that sometimes ensue from marital break-up and child-custody disputes.

Christa Boske, "A Time to Grow: Workplace Mobbing and the Making of a Tempered Radical," pp. 29-56 in A. K. Tooms and C. Boske, eds., A Bridge Leadership, IAP Information Age Publishing, 2010. First-person account of the struggles of an activist teacher/counselor in a residential treatment center for boys. Nicely illustrates how conflicts over pedagogy and school policy get intertwined with the politics of sex and race. "Some targets," Boske writes, "have a 'fire in the belly," which they use to confront the actions of social eliminators in an effort to promote humanity." This book is in the series on Educational Leadership for Social Justice.

David Price, "Trial by FBI Investigation," Counterpunch (August 10, 2009). An account of the mobbing of Janice Harper, anthropology professor at University of Tennessee Knoxville. Raising concerns about the dearth of women faculty in her department appears to have provoked a barrage of wild charges against Harper, including the modish smear of being some kind of terrorist, a threat to national security. Police and FBI investigations turned up nothing against her, but UTK's Institutional Review Board joined the mob. Despite glowing academic evaluations and a college committee's unanimous vote to give her tenure, Harper lost her place on the UTK faculty in 2009. A lawsuit is pending.

James Randolph Hillard, "Workplace mobbing: are they really out to get your patient?" Current Psychiatry (8:4, April 2009), pp. 45-51. Many mobbing targets, probably the majority, consult with a mental-health professional at some point in the process. This may be of their own accord, at the suggestion of family or friends, or at management's direction. In any case, it is essential that they read Hillard's article before the visit, and print a copy to give to the professional. If the latter cannot believe the story of Dr. Hillard and Mr. G, he or she is not qualified to deal with a mobbing case.

E. Yelgecen Tigrel and O. Kokalan, "Academic Mobbing in Turkey," International Journal of Behavioral, Cognitive, Educational and Psychological Sciences (1:2 2009), pp. 91-99. This article includes a concise but comprehensive summary of the literature on workplace mobbing, a review of studies of this phenomenon in the academic workplaces of the US, UK, Spain, New Zealand, and Scandinavia, and finally a report of the results of the authors' own exploratory survey of 103 academicians in five Turkish universities. Twelve percent of their respondents claimed to have been mobbed — this finding must be taken as a rough estimate, given the small sample, but it is similar to other estimates.

Mark Y. Hickson, Jean Bodon, and Theresa Bodon, "Modeling Cultures: Toward Grounded Paradigms in Organizations and Mass Culture," pp. 280-98 in Don W. Stacks and Michael B. Salwen, An Integrated Approach to Communication: Theory and Research, 2nd Ed., 2009, Taylor & Francis. Includes a fascinating study of "troublemaking in an academic environment," wherein a senior professor named Brutus at Moo U teams up with a junior professor named Julie, as well as assorted students, to bring down the department chair. As in many mobbing cases, not much of anybody comes out a winner, though Julie does get her contract renewed.

Maureen Duffy, "Preventing Workplace Mobbing and Bullying with Effective Organizational Consultation, Policies, and Legislation," Consulting Psychology Journal 61 (September 2009), pp. 242-262. Duffy surveys the substantial costs of mobbing — not just to the target's health and well-being but to the organization's productivity, reputation, and finances — and proposes legislation and policy developoment for reducing these costs. This article is from a special issue of the journal relating the literature on mobbing and bullying to the interests of consulting psychologists; Len Sperry was issue editor.

Helen Hickey de Haven, "The Elephant in the Ivory Tower: Rampages in Higher Education and the Case for Institutional Liability," Journal of College and University Law 35 (No. 3, 2009), pp. 504-611. In this long, tough-minded, exhaustively researched article, De Haven makes prudent use of research on mobbing in the academic workplace. This is a far more insightful analysis of school shootings and similar tragedies than is found in the typical official reports. "Facing the institutional responsibility for the rampage phenomenon," she writes, "is not only the best way to tame the beast that lurks in our midst, endangering our cherished open spaces, it is also a way of transporting the academy as a whole into a future better adapted to the survival of its fundamental principles."

Gary A. Olson, "Avoiding Academe's Ax Murderers," Chronicle of Higher Education (October 15, 2008).
Concise, perceptive essay by a dean at Illinois State about mobbing tendencies in academic departments. Reminiscent of Nietzsche's adage, "Distrust all those in whom the impulse to punish is powerful." People of this kind often arouse the same impulse in normally tolerant individuals, and thereby a mob is born.

Charles D. Bultena and Richard B. Whatcott, "Bushwhacked at Work: A Comparative Analysis of Mobbing & Bullying at Work," Proceedings of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences (15:1, Feb. 2008).
An exceptionally systematic and lucid distinction between workplace bullying and workplace mobbing, with discussion of alternative proposals for remedy and prevention, and a flowchart showing possible paths for resolving mobbing episodes.

Sandra Stokes and Sheri Klein, "In Their Own Words: Academic Mobbing: Is Gender a Factor?" Women in Higher Education (May 2008). Click here for the monthly journal's homepage.
Two professors at campuses of the University of Wisconsin, one at
Green Bay and the other at Stout, describe what academic mobbing means and relate it to issues of gender discrimination.

Ruth McKay, Diane Huberman Arnold, Jae Fratzl, and Roland Thomas, "Workplace Bullying In Academia: A Canadian Study," Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 20 (2008), pp. 77-100. Report of a survey on bullying among faculty in a Canadian university. Major finding is that newly hired and untenured professors are especially vulnerable. The article includes a thoughtful review of literature on partially overlapping conceptual frames, and on the institutional costs of bullying.

Sally E. Rosen, Judith Kapustin Katz, and Page S. Morahan, "Avoiding 'Mobbing' in the Workplace — and Surviving if You Are Mobbed," Academic Physician and Scientist (Sept. 2007), pp. 4-6.
Not only an accurate summary of research on mobbing, but also sound practical advice for how to avoid being targeted and what to do if it happens anyway. Includes case description of a respected professional who is marginalized for public dissent over a breach of ethics by a powerful workmate.

Maureen Duffy and Len Sperry, "Workplace Mobbing: Individual and Family Health Consequences," The Family Journal (15:4, 2007), pp. 398-407.
Well-written overview of what mobbing means, and of its health consequences for targets and their families. Perceptive discussion of the organizational and personality dynamics that foster mobbing and reinforce its ill effects. Analysis of two anonymous cases of professors being mobbed. Concludes with recommended counseling interventions for organizational change.

Brady Coleman, "Shame, Rage, and Freedom of Speech: Should the United States Adopt European 'Mobbing' Laws?" Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (35:1, 2006), pp. 53-99.
A thorough, balanced, and careful comparison of European and American legislation against harassment, teasing out the conflicting assumptions underlying the two approaches. Clear distinction between bullying and mobbing. Comprehensive review of relevant case law. In the end, Coleman comes down on the side of European anti-mobbing laws, which treat the shame felt by targets of collective aggression as no less harmful than the rage felt by targets of sex- and race-based discrimination. He doubts that the latter ("you girls belong in the kitchen, not the boardroom") causes more pain than the former ("you are a totally unqualified moron").