Mobbing continued: the issue of conformity

Harassment in the workplace in the form of ‘mobbing’ (see Dr Janice Harper) calls into question the respect for a structural model to which an employee must conform. A necessary model, but one that is invoked in this case to destroy a human being. The victim is considered harmful or detrimental to an official system that is also based on unofficial foundations – as is the case with the ‘hidden organisational chart’ that defines the relationships of influence within a structure.

Dewey (Experience and Education, 1968) establishes that social order and needs must underpin all action, but that mutual consultation, a desire for individual freedom and kindness in social relations give quality to the work experience.

Mobbing denies an employee's professional and personal identity. However, the presence of a scapegoat shows that the group or structure is functioning on unhealthy grounds, regardless of the victim, who conveniently serves to direct attention towards the pointing finger rather than towards the sick person.

The injunction to conform to the presented model therefore questions the real intentions of the person who pulls the strings of others who follow and are manipulated – who are in fact actors and accomplices in the abuse. Right-thinking, groupthink and values are then used as strategic tools to ensure, on the one hand, servility and, on the other, to destroy the victim. However, is there only one method for carrying out a task in accordance with the model? The book "The Workbench " (Linhart, 1978), a textbook case in professional didactics, tells the true story of an atypical employee respected by his peers, who was intentionally and meticulously destroyed by his superiors because he was the inventor of a unique technique that opposed what would become assembly line work in the car industry. A job that was losing its meaning, leaving no room for initiative and creativity.

The sense of community is based on values, of course, but values applied in the sense of Dewey (Theory of Valuation, 1939): valuation is the ability to understand the gap between intended goals and achieved goals so that the activity is accomplished by all and bears healthy fruit, respectful of each individual and the purpose of the work. To achieve this, it is essential to recognise the value of each individual in the service of the common good, i.e. the value of difference and diversity as a source of mutual enrichment and meaning in the accomplishment of the task. Inclusion, kindness: what do these words mean? How are they translated into reality?