Psychological Harassment: Dynamics, Types, Effects

According to the dictionary, to harass means to constantly disturb with the insistent repetition of the same thing (claims, reproaches, etc.); to attack constantly, at short intervals, to lose power.

In other words, harassing behavior is the type of behavior that causes you stress or suffering and makes you feel humiliated and threatened. The act of harassment can be committed by someone you know, such as a neighbor or co-worker, or by a stranger you meet on the street.

Among the most well-known harassment situations are receiving calls, unsolicited emails, and visits, online abuse, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse and threats, acts of intimidation (broken windows in your car, for example). In addition to these, there are other gestures that we will discuss in the following lines, along with the effects they produce.

Harassment also means aggressive pressure or intimidation. Thus, this act covers a wide range of behaviors that, no matter how you look at them, will always be classified as offensive. Harassment is a behavior that bothers, affects, and disturbs the harassed person. And it has a repetitive character.

Victim-aggressor dynamics

Psychological harassment, also known as moral harassment, refers to a type of personal treatment that is humiliating and disqualifying, mentally harming the person receiving it.

To be able to talk about psychological harassment, it is necessary for the person who commits it to do it intentionally, to mentally unbalance the other individual. Behavior has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity or creating a degrading, humiliating, hostile, intimidating, and offensive environment.

In addition, harassment is exercised systematically and continuously. According to experts, one of the most important things about the harassed person is that they are usually not fully aware that they are being humiliated and therefore do not adopt a confrontational attitude towards the aggressor.

Thus, psychological harassment is a long process in which the person, being progressively subjected to uncertainty and helplessness, ends up losing self-esteem and self-confidence.

A common factor for harassing behavior is that the perpetrator is usually in a position of power. It can come from age, stature, gender, economic or social status - all of which will be used in this harassment process. This imbalance of forces creates an atmosphere in which open and honest communication is no longer possible.

The victim's silence can be misinterpreted as a sign of encouragement to continue the unwanted behavior. Nobody wants to tell the person in power that he is doing something wrong. So things are not always easy to identify and prove. And sometimes harassment is not obvious. Especially at work, harassment can be so subtle that the victim may wonder if the discomfort is only in his or her mind.

Harassment - in what contexts can it occur?

Harassment, as an act, is directed against the fundamental human right to dignity, development, and security. There are different types of harassment, such as:

• bullying at work (mobbing);

• sexual harassment;

• emotional harassment;

• school harassment;

• cyberbullying;

• family harassment, all with psychological implications.

Each of them is characterized by the fact that it takes place in a different field and by specific terms.

Sexual harassment

It refers to any form of unwanted sexual behavior that is offensive, humiliating, and intimidating, being an illegal act. Sexual harassment affects the victim in many ways and can be written, verbal, physical, and can occur in the physical or online environment (email, social media, etc.).

Correct information and keeping evidence of harassment helps if it goes ahead legally (possibly keeping a diary detailing the gestures, facts, people who were present). Communication or disclosure to a trusted person also helps.

Psychological harassment at work (mobbing)

It is characterized by offensive behavior, manifested by repeated hostile behavior, by words and deeds that are physically and psychologically detrimental to an employee and that create a negative work environment for the person in question.

Even a single but serious incident can be considered psychological harassment if it attacks or undermines the physical and psychological integrity of an employee and produces long-term harmful effects on him.

Examples of gestures that qualify as psychological harassment:

• offensive comments;

• acts of intimidation or revenge;

• spreading rumors;

• humiliation;

• isolating or denying the presence of a person;

• teasing;

• discredit;

• criticizing every word spoken by someone;

• trivializing the way a person thinks and thinks.

What does not qualify as psychological harassment at work?

• work-related stress (derived from specific tasks);

• difficult working conditions;

• requests to increase performance;

• substantiated criticisms;

• to have an unpleasant mood from time to time.

Individual responsibility, in itself, is combined with the responsibility of the organization and other people who may be involved. The silence or ignorance of these situations, with the hope that it can resolve itself, has harmful effects on the psyche of the harassed person.

Street harassment

It has nothing to do with clothing or sexual attraction, but only with the harasser's need to demonstrate power and dominance over the victim, which is seen only as an object. In Romania, at the legislative level, street harassment is regulated by Law no. 232/2018.

The traumatic perspective in harassment

Harassment can have traumatic effects on the person, especially because it represents a series of concerted actions and inactions, to dominate the person. Many times, the aggressors deny the actions and the hostile communication and try to induce the idea that the victim is the culprit.

The immediate effects that can occur are self-doubt and even the self-blame of the victim. It is important to know that the act of harassment takes place over time, in several phases, and in one of these phases the following situations and disorders can occur:

• lack of momentum;

• depression;

• irascibility;

• aggression;

• sleep disorders;

• headaches;

• circulatory problems;

• heavy sweating;

• heart disorders;

• digestive diseases;

• states of exhaustion;

• general disorders of the neurovegetative system.

Harassment - psychological consequences. Ways to follow

Not infrequently, the victims of abusive behavior were wrongly accused, which had very serious effects on their psyche. However we look at this act, harassment produces strong negative effects. As a negative trigger, it can lead to depression.

In addition to the emotional distress experienced by the victims or possible injuries and physical injuries, they remain in constant fear of a similar future. Thus, anxiety and panic attacks are also among the psychological consequences of harassment. Damage to mental and emotional health creates a domino effect, having an impact on physical health, social and professional life.

Sometimes it can be difficult to identify harassing behavior. Sometimes it can be difficult for you to accept the position of victim. That is why it becomes even more important to recognize the reality you are going through and to identify the resources you can turn to the circle of friends, support groups, psychotherapy, specialists/consultants in the legal field.

It is a whole mechanism that must be present and ensure a safe environment for victims of harassment. By correct information, by calling specialists we inform ourselves, we educate ourselves, we protect ourselves and our loved ones.