Jim Augustine
www.sc.edu/ombuds
Definition
 Incivility (n.)
(1) the quality or state of being
uncivil
(2) a rude or discourteous act
(3) Synonyms: discourteousness,
disrespect, disrespectfulness,
impertinence, impertinency,
impoliteness, impudence,
discourtesy, inconsiderateness,
inconsideration, insolence,
rudeness, ungraciousness
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Our “incivility crisis”
 “How we treat one another is what civility is
about.”
 "A big part of our incivility crisis, stems from
the sad fact that we do not know each other or
even want to try; and, not knowing each other,
we seem to think that how we treat each other
does not matter.“
 Stephen L. Carter (1998) Civility: Manners,
Morals and the Etiquette of Democracy.
[William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at
Yale, where he has taught since 1982.
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a. Individual acts of incivility
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b. Classroom incivility
 Instructors identify various student behaviors as annoying,
rude, and disruptive.
 These may be classified on a scale of relative severity:
 Annoyances, minor disruptions—arriving late and leaving
early, talking on cell phone, reading newspaper, side
conversations, packing up noisily before end of class
 Dominating discussion —student who won’t let anyone
else talk.
 Aggressive challenges of teacher — student who takes up
class time questioning your authority, expressing anger
about grading, or generally undermining your ability to
teach.
 Disputes between students; demeaning comments —When
classroom discussion gets out of hand, or a student uses
demeaning or stereotyping language.
 UC-Santa Cruz (2009) Classroom Civility
http://teaching.ucsc.edu/tips-civility.html
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c. Faculty incivility
 ‘Lately it seems that people in academe have
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become less civil to one another.’
“Incivility in all of its forms is on the rise.”
This book addresses the prevalence of
faculty incivility and the rise of an academic
bully culture in higher education.
A central tenet of this book is that bullying
and other forms of incivility in the academy
are often hidden and regularly denied. (p. 51)
Twale, DJ, DeLuca, BM (2008) Faculty
Incivility: The Rise of the Academic Bully
Culture and What to Do About it. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
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c. Faculty incivility (more)
 Twale and DeLuca define faculty
incivility as “bullying, mobbing,
camouflaged aggression, and harassment
in the academic workplace”
 Related terms include: abusive treatment,
persistent and enduring hostility,
threatening and demeaning behavior,
systematic and prolonged mistreatment of
others.
 We will use the term “bullying” for this
type of behavior in the rest of this
presentation
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Bullying is…
 Repeated (prolonged, persistent; over extended period of time –
at least 6 months)
 Unwelcome and hostile
 Directed - at one individual at a time
 Escalating process
Inescapable - usually taken in circumstances where the
victim has difficulty defending themselves or in
circumstances where others are unwilling to come to the
aid of the target
Involves humiliation, offense, and distress to the victim
Draws in others beyond the initial bully-target
 There is often a power imbalance between the bully and the
target
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Profile of a bully
 Lewis (2006) says bullies tend to be:
Highly manipulative
Socially skilled with the ability to develop
social support for their behavior
 The greater the social support for behavior,
even negative behaviors, the more resistant
the behavior is to modification
 Some bullies project charming personas in public
situations to cover their covert vindictiveness
(Twale and De Luca, 2008).
 They are very good at self-promotion
 Bullies have zero respect for their targets
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Categorization of bullying behaviors
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1. Threat to Professional Status: Questioning competence, belittling opinion,
professional humiliation in front of colleagues, negative comments about
intelligence, questioning a person’s ability to other colleagues; spreading rumors or
gossip. These are primarily active behaviors.
2. Threat to Personal Standing. Name-calling, insults, verbal abuse, tantrums,
intimidating behaviors, devaluing with reference to age, gender, race/ethnicity or
appearance, hostile gestures. These are predominantly active behaviors
3. Isolation. Exclusion from departmental gatherings, silent treatment, withholding
information, ignoring contributions, not taking concerns seriously, preventing access
to opportunities or promotion, poisoning others against the target. These behaviors
tend to be passive in nature.
4. Overwork / Unreal Expectations. Undue pressure, impossible deadlines,
unnecessary disruptions, setting up to fail, unreal or ambiguous expectations; more
so than for others in the same environment.
5. Destabilization. Others take credit for work; assigning meaningless tasks,
removing responsibility, denied raise or promotion without reason; excessive
monitoring.
Workplace Bullying. What to Do if You Are the Target of a Workplace Bullier (2011)
Workplace Ethics Advice http://www.workplaceethicsadvice.com/2011/07/workplacebullying.html
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The incidence of bullying - 1
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First representative study of workplace bullying among adult Americans
(2007)
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37% of the U.S. workforce (about 54 million Americans) report being bullied
at work; an additional 12% witness it. That is a total of 49% of workers.
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Most bullies are bosses (72%)
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More perpetrators are men (60%) than are women(40%)
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Most Targets (57%) are women
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Women bullies target women (71%); men target men (54%)
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Bullying is 4 times more prevalent than illegal discriminatory harassment
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62% of employers ignore the problem
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45% of Targets suffer stress-related health problems
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40% of bullied individuals never tell their employers
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Only 3% of bullied people file lawsuits
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Survey results are © 2007 Workplace Bullying Institute. Survey carried out by
Zogby International.
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The incidence of bullying - 2
 In a representative sample of over 7000 US workers
(Lutgen-Sandvik, Namie, & Namie, 2009) 12.3 % of
respondents indicated they had witnessed others
being bullied at work in the previous 12 months.
 Adding to this the 12.6% who said they had been
bullied during this same period, almost 25% of the
American working adults are exposed to and affected
by workplace bullying in a 12-month period.
 These rates refer to general working populations.
 Exposure may be higher or lower in different
organizations and occupations.
 In short, workplace bullying is part of many adults’
working lives.
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Incidence in academic settings
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First hand experience with bullying:
Finland, 1994 – 20.5%
Wales, 1999 – 18%
UK, 2004a – 18%
UK, 2004b – 25%
UK, 2005 – 42%
New Zealand, 2006 – 67.7%
Average about 32% [25% without NZ]
Cited in: Keashly L, Neuman JH (2010).
Faculty experiences with bullying in higher
education: Causes, consequences, and
management. Administrative Theory & Praxis,
32(1), 48-70.
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Incidence in US academic settings
 Fox, S. (2009). Bullying in academia:
Distinctive relations of power and control.
Loyola University, Chicago.– experienced
in prior 5 years = 36.6% [Cited in Keashly
L, Neuman JH (2010)]
 Keashly, L., & Neuman, J. H. (2008).
Workplace Behavior Project Survey. –
experienced in last 12 months = 32%
[Cited in Keashly L, Neuman JH (2010)]
 University of Iowa Ombuds: 22% of 502
visitor complaints involved disrespectful
behavior; 5% complained about
workplace bullying (2011-2012)
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The cost of bullying
 Individual costs
Source of stress, physical symptoms (loss of
appetite, sleep), mental health problems
(anxiety, depression, burnout, irritability),
absence from work (avoidance); social impact
(partners, colleagues, families, friends)
 Institutional costs
Sickness, absence from work, staff and faculty
turnover, reduced productivity, second-hand
effect on colleagues (often have to take sides),
cost of potential litigation
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Final thoughts…
 Author C. K. Gunsalus describes the
problem in academia as "low
incidence, high severity," analogous to
research misconduct.
 She identifies the aggressors' misuse
of the concepts of academic freedom
and collegiality as a commonly used
strategy.
 The College Administrator’s Survival
Guide (2006)
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Our “incivility crisis”
“Civility, Stephen Carter reminds us, matters.
Its foundations is in the heart and in our love
and respect for our fellow human beings. Our
institutions, culture, communities, and
country cannot long survive the loss of this
basic and essential ingredient of civilization.
Nor can any of us.”
Marian Wright Edelman, president,
Children's Defense Fund
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Questions?
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References
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Carter SL (1998) Civility: Manners, Morals and the Etiquette of Democracy. Basic Books, New
York.
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Center for Teaching & Learning (2009) Classroom Civility. UC-Santa Cruz.
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Gunsalus CK (2006) The College Administrator's Survival Guide. Harvard University Press.
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Joyce C (2011-2012) 26th Annual Report. Office of the Ombudsperson, University of Iowa.
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Keashly L, Neuman JH (2010). Faculty experiences with bullying in higher education: Causes,
consequences, and management. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 32(1), 48-70.
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Lewis MA (2006) Nurse bullying: organizational considerations in the maintenance and
perpetration of health care bullying cultures. J Nursing Management 14:52–58.
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Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Namie, G., & Namie, R. (2009). Workplace bullying: Causes, consequences,
and corrections. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. D. Sypher (Eds.), Destructive organizational
communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing. (pp. 27-52).
New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis
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Twale, DJ, DeLuca, BM (2008) Faculty Incivility: The Rise of the Academic Bully Culture and
What to Do About it. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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Workplace Bullying Institute (2007) U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey, the first national
survey by WBI.
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Workplace Bullying Institute (2010) Second National Survey
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Workplace Ethics Advice (2011) Workplace Bullying. What to Do if You Are the Target of a
Workplace Bullier.
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