Psychological interventions against workplace mobbing

Abstract

Workplace mobbing is a global phenomenon with a complex and multicausal nature. This concept refers to violent behaviors which aim to humiliate, exclude and cause psychological damage to an individual or group in the work environment. Since workplace mobbing may cause or exacerbate several psychological disorders, it must be addressed by psychological interventions. In light of these concerns, the aim of this article was to investigate whether psychologists in organizational settings address the issue of mobbing, and describe the interventions implemented in this type of situation. We also sought to investigate their understanding of the concept of mobbing in the workplace. This was a qualitative exploratory study involving seven psychologists recruited by convenience. Participants were interviewed, and data were processed by content analysis. Our fi ndings showed that psychologists make use of specifi c and isolated preventive interventions, as well as reactive interventions, such as maintaining a physical distance between the parties involved in mobbing and monitoring the behavior of the offender. It was also observed that psychologists adequately understand bullying as a phenomenon characterized by humiliation, which is often perpetrated by managers, as a form of abuse of power.Keywords: Mobbing, psychological interventions, prevention, work. Intervenções Psicológicas diante do Assédio Moral no TrabalhoResumo O assédio moral é um fenômeno mundial, complexo e multicausal. Refere-se a comportamentos violentos que visam humilhar, rechaçar e demolir psiquicamente o indivíduo ou grupo assediado, no contexto do trabalho. Devido ao seu potencial para causar sofrimento psíquico e adoecimento no trabalho, pode exigir intervenções psicológicas. Nesta perspectiva, o artigo objetiva identifi car se os Psicólogos, 1 Mailing address: Faculdade Meridional -IMED,