职场霸凌 充满敌意而且持续不断的电子邮件

The emails were “hostile and constant”. Jane Allen, a sales representative for a medical company in the US, would spend half a day responding to her boss, defending herself from cruel smears. It got to the point that she would dread checking her inbox for fear of the latest humiliation. “I would see an email come in [on my phone] and I’d become physically sick.”

这些电子邮件“充满敌意而且持续不断”。简•艾伦(Jane Allen)是一家美国医药公司的销售代表，她会花半天时间回复自己的老板，保护自己免受痛苦的羞辱。她已经到了惧怕查看收件箱的地步，因为害怕遭受新的羞辱。“我一看到（我的手机）收到新邮件，就会感到身体不适。”

With children and a mortgage to pay, Ms Allen, who does not want to use her real name, felt unable to quit her job. So she stuck it out until she could find a new position.

由于要抚养孩子并支付抵押贷款，艾伦（化名）觉得不能辞掉工作。所以她坚持忍耐，直至找到一份新工作。

“I felt like I was in a battlefield. Always on the defence and the bullets were fired at me.” Ultimately, it affected her ability to sleep, hit her confidence hard and led to depression.

“我感觉像是置身于战场。总处于守势，子弹总射向我。”最终，这影响到了她的睡眠，严重打击了她的自信，致使她患上了抑郁症。

Ms Allen, who is now employed elsewhere and is considering taking her previous employer to court, feels that the emails were a form of cyberbullying, and different from conventional workplace bullying.

如今已找到新工作的艾伦，正在考虑将以前的雇主告上法庭。她认为那些电子邮件是一种网络霸凌(cyberbullying)，只是与传统的职场霸凌不同罢了。

Emails are particularly pernicious, she says, as they are there to be read and reread. It meant that Ms Allen — who depended on her phone to keep in touch with head office and colleagues while out on the road — felt her persecutor was always with her.

她说，那些邮件危害尤其严重，因为它们可以被反复地阅读。这意味着艾伦——出门在外时依靠自己的手机与总部及同事们保持联系——时刻都能感受到施害者的存在。

Researchers typically define workplace cyberbullying as a situation where an individual is repeatedly subjected to perceived negative acts conducted through technology — email, websites, social media — that are related to their work context. Samuel Farley of the Institute of Work Psychology at Sheffield University management school in the UK, is researching the issue.

研究人员通常将职场网络霸凌定义为这样一种情形，即一个人反复承受可感知到的、通过与他们的工作环境有关的科技手段（电子邮件、网站及社交媒体）实施的负面行为。英国谢菲尔德大学(Sheffield University)管理学院职场心理学研究所(Institute of Work Psychology)的塞缪尔•法利(Samuel Farley)正在研究这个问题。

In the UK, the conciliation service Acas elaborates on how this might manifest itself in social media: “Inappropriate photographs, of­fensive or threatening comments or sensitive personal information might be posted vindictively. A manager or an employee might be targeted. The victim may, or may not, be aware that they are being bullied.” For example, while they are likely to see a threat that is emailed to them, they may not see comments about them on a social networking site.

在英国，调解服务机构Acas阐述了网络霸凌如何在社交媒体上呈现：“不雅照片、攻击性或威胁性的评论，以及敏感的个人信息，都可能被恶意发布。经理或员工都可能成为受攻击的目标。受害者可能会意识到他们受到了欺辱，也可能不会。”例如，虽然他们很可能会看到通过电邮发来的威胁，但他们可能不会看到社交网站上对他们的评论。

Gary Namie, a social psychologist and director of the Workplace Bullying Institute in the US, says cyberbullies are often aggressive in a way they never would be face to face: “Technology makes it so much easier to be hateful and cruel from a distance.”

美国职场霸凌学会(Workplace Bullying Institute)会长、社会心理学家加里•奈美(Gary Namie)说，网络霸凌的攻击性常常是面对面交流达不到的：“科技使人们更容易远距离地表现出仇恨和残忍。”

Unlike bullying in person, the fact that we carry our smartphones around with us means that cyberbullies can penetrate the safe havens of people’s homes.

与面对面霸凌不同，我们随身携带智能手机的事实意味着网络霸凌可以穿透家这个“安全港”。

In some cases a cyberbully can be anonymous, unlike in Ms Allen’s situation where the perpetrator was clearly traceable.

某些情况下，一种霸凌行为可以是匿名的，与艾伦的情况不同，她的施害者显然是可以查出的。

Mr Farley says that technology may exacerbate aggressive behaviour. “When you work remotely there is a problem of de-individuation — you focus on screens and become less empathetic. It can lead you to send something you wouldn’t say to their face.”

法利说，科技可能会加剧攻击性行为。“当你进行远程操控时，就会出现去个体化的问题——你紧盯着屏幕，而且变得不那么愿意体恤别人的感受。这可能会导致你发送一些你不会当面对他们说出的话。”

Nancy Willard, who works in the US on anti-bullying campaigns for children, agrees. “Technology tends to inc­rease the emotional tenor. There’s potentially a greater audience — online, more people might see it.”

美国致力于儿童反霸凌行动的南希•威拉德(Nancy Willard)赞同这一观点。“科技倾向于增加情感冲动。潜在的观众数量极大——在线上，更多人可能会看到它。”

Many victims suffer in silence, says Mr Farley, because they perceive cyberbullying as an issue affecting younger people in school rather than working adults. Consequently, it may be an under-reported issue in the office.

法利说，许多受害者都默默忍受，因为他们觉得网络霸凌只是影响在校年轻人的问题，而对职场成年人影响不大。因此，职场中的这一问题可能被忽视了。

“No one knows what the levels are,” he adds.

“没有人知道程度如何，”他补充说。

Anastasia de Waal, deputy director at think-tank Civitas, says the consistent theme is that “cyberbullying is very difficult to control and can spread quickly”.

英国智库Civitas副主任阿纳斯塔西娅•德瓦尔(Anastasia de Waal)说，不变的主题是“网络霸凌非常难以控制，且可以迅速传播”。

If you think you are the target, she says, keep a record: “It’s a good way to observe a pattern.” And ultimately, to report it to your employer.

她说，如果你认为自己成了别人的目标，记录下来：“这是观察某种模式的好方法。”而最后，一定要向雇主报告此事。