Up Close and Personal - Part 2

Bully OnLine at http://www.bullyonline.org is the most comprehensive anti-bully website on the WWW, which was founded by Tim Field, an international authority on workplace bullying. Field believed that bullying was the single most important social issue of today, and that its study provided an opportunity to understand the behaviors which underlie almost all conflict and violence. Tim Field succumbed to cancer at age 53 on January 15, 2006, but his remarkable legacy will have a lasting effect. The following excerpts from bullyonline defines the pack behavior exhibited by groups that bully under the direction of the principal agitator.

What is mobbing?

The word mobbing is preferred to bullying in continental Europe and in those situations where a target is selected and bullied (mobbed) by a group of people rather than by one individual. However, every group has a ringleader. If this ringleader is an extrovert it will be obvious who is coercing group members into mobbing the selected target. If the ringleader is an introvert type, he or she is likely to be in the background coercing and manipulating group members into mobbing the selected target; introvert ringleaders are much more dangerous than extrovert ringleaders.

In a mobbing situation, the ringleader incites supporters, cohorts, copycats and unenlightened, inexperienced, immature or emotionally needy individuals with poor values to engage in adversarial interaction with the selected target. The ringleader, or chief bully, gains gratification from encouraging others to engage in adversarial interaction with the target. Many people use the word "mobbing" to describe this pack attack by many on one individual. Once mobbing is underway the chief bully foments the mobbing into mutually assured destruction, from which the chief bully gains intense gratification - this is a feature of people with psychopathic personality.

One aspect of psychopathic bullies is that they home in on Wannabe types - non-psychopathic lesser bullies - and then empower these individuals to gain the positions of power and authority they crave. Once installed, the Wannabe's lack of competence makes them dependent on the chief psychopath, which means they become unwitting but willing compliant puppets.

"Judyetta is considering putting Miss L in traction, and I assured you we would bail her out of jail. I'll let her describe her plans when she comes in." -Posted by loretta at August 21, 2005 10:12 PM

"Good evening misfits. Had to slink out of Lurkinville to vent. I've been doing a slow burn all day over Ms. L's treatment of little L. Now I am absolutely furious. Been seeing red all day. How dare she raise a hand to my little sweetie. (sorry Lo but I love that kid). I've been devising ways to get the "C" under control and I've a few ideas.

1. I could just ambush C and beat the sh!t out of her til she repents. However, I'd need bail money and probly a lawyer.

2. We could all take turns staking out her house, snapping photos of her, tailing her,etc. until she has a complete breakdown. (this idea is very appealing to me).

3. I could stake out her house, tail her on her daily errands, snapping photos and just drive her batty wondering who I am and why I'm following her til she melts down. This coupled with regular phone calls from all of us could get her under control.

You all just let me know what you think. All I need is for Lo to unleash me! I would never do these things without her blessing. Any other ideas? I'm willing to take all options into consideration." -Posted by Judyetta at August 21, 2005 10:26 PM

The main reason a psychopathic chief bully gets away with his (or her) behaviour repeatedly is that no-one wants to believe that s/he could be the monster s/he is. They appear so charming and plausible to naive, unenlightened and inexperienced people - usually those who haven't experienced bullying themselves.

"We have nothing to lose. We can organize a jihad on the BSers and invade with sensible, reasonable, factual logic, truth and light. It will make them nuts. Totally crazy. They'll start frothing and spinning. Especially if there are six or seven or eight of us (including some who are already there on a regular basis and are known by me to be readers) and there are only a few of them. That's the best. Take particular care to debunk that nasty, lying fraud, Injustice4All, and if you can stomach it (which i can't) do your best to point out Tara's witless, drunken stupors." -Posted by loretta at September 11, 2004 01:53 PM

The golden rule when tackling a mobbing situation is, I believe, to identify and focus exclusively on the chief bully, and concentrate on holding this ringleader accountable. Expect an immediate increase in mobbing activities, and a rapidly-expanding web of deceit to be concocted against you. Alternatively, the best solution may be to make a positive decision to leave and refuse to allow these people to continue to ruin your life. In the unlikely event that the psychopathic chief leader is exposed and then leaves, the dysfunction, aggression and negative feelings fostered by him or her are likely to linger for years.

http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/mobbing.htm