The Function of Dysfunction: How Workplace Bullying Sustains Itself

What happens when the person subjected to workplace bullying begins to carry the effects of the dysfunction within the relationship? Drawing on family systems thinking, this article asks what behavior does within the relational system in which it is embedded. When a person is subjected to bullying and abuse, their survival responses and coping mechanisms can become woven into the relationship. Silence, appeasement, vigilance, over-compliance, withdrawal, or taking on more than is reasonable may help the person manage an unsafe situation while also allowing the surrounding system to remain organized around the dysfunction. Over time, the person subjected to the abuse can come to carry its effects, while the behavior that created those responses becomes less visible. The article explores how dysfunction can serve a function within a relational system, how workplaces can adjust around the survival responses of the person being bullied, and how responsibility can shift onto the person with the least power. Read on.