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Psychopaths worst type of Workplace Bullies
1. Psychopaths worst type of Workplace Bullies
Workplace psychopaths are capable of “mentally destroying” their co-workers and Australian
bosses should be on the lookout for these people, says an expert.
Speaking at the Tasmanian Work Health & Safety Conference, psychotherapist John Clarke
said psychopaths are more common than people think and that workplace psychopaths belong
to many large organisations and can mentally destroy workers around them. He says between 1
and 3 percent of the adult population is a psychopath.
ABC News reported that Dr Clarke believes the best way to stop workplace psychopaths is to
deal with their damaging behaviour.
“When people think of psychopath, they think of a serial killer or a
rapist. And they are fairly similar things,” said Dr Clarke.
“The workplace psychopath is somebody who psychologically destroys the people they
work with to feed their need for a sense of power and control and domination over other
human beings.
“They don’t suffer any guilt or remorse, or in fact they enjoy the suffering of other
people.”
Dr Clarke says identifying workplace psychopaths can be difficult because they usually
excel at work. However, they are a major problem for an organisation because they
victimise co-workers and can cause high turnover rates.
“From an employee point of view, they cause things like anxiety disorders and
depression. I have had a number of cases where the victim has taken their own life,”
said Dr Clarke.
He urged bosses to deal with workplace psychopaths.
“So workplaces need to be far more vigilant in screening or checking employees in their
organisation so you don’t employ to psychopaths to start.
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2. “The second thing workplaces should do is put a management position strategy in place
– maybe not giving the psychopath access to highly vulnerable people or victims, so that
they’re protecting the majority of employees in the organisation.”
http://www.safetyculture.com.au/news/index.php/10/expert-cautions-bosses-against-wor
kplace-psychopaths/
Psychotherapist warning about ‘workplace psychopaths’
Updated Mon Oct 1, 2012 7:28pm AEST
An Australian psychotherapist is urging employers to watch out for ‘workplace psychopaths’.
Dr John Clark says these types of psychopaths are more common than generally thought, and
can isolate and mentally destroy the staff around them.
Miriam Hall
Source: PM | Duration: 3min 43sec
Topics: bullying, australia
Transcript
MARK COLVIN: An Australian psychotherapist is urging employers to watch out for ‘workplace
psychopaths’. Dr John Clarke says this type of sociopath is more common than generally
thought. The danger is that they can isolate and mentally destroy the staff around them.
Speaking at the Tasmanian Work Health & Safety Conference, Dr John Clarke said the only
way to win the war against these psychopaths was to refuse to tolerate their damaging
behaviour in the workplace.
Miriam Hall has the story.
MIRIAM HALL: In many organisations, some staff don’t get along. But Dr John Clarke says the
behaviour of a workplace psychopath is something completely different.
JOHN CLARKE: When people think of psychopath, they think of serial killer or a rapist. And they
are fairly similar things. The workplace psychopath is somebody who psychologically destroys
the people they work with to feed their need for a sense of power and control and domination
over other human beings. So they don’t suffer any guilt or remorse for their behaviour, or in fact
they enjoy the suffering of other people.
MIRIAM HALL: Dr John Clarke consults with employers that have a psychopath working for
them. He says between 1 and 3 per cent of the adult population is a psychopath, meaning most
large organisations would have at least one psychopath on their books.
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3. JOHN CLARKE: From a business point of view they cause very high staff turnover rates, which
is expensive to the organisation. From an employee point of view, they cause things like anxiety
disorders, depression; I have had a number of cases where the victim has taken their own life.
MIRIAM HALL: Dr John Clarke describes workplace psychopaths as difficult to identify, usually
because they are generally well-liked, and competent at their jobs. But he says for victims,
working with psychopaths is impossible, and those psychopaths must be dealt with.
JOHN CLARKE: There’s two angles that workplaces should do. Number one, they should look
at screening; not for psychopathy per se, but psychopaths will generally lie about their job
experience, etcetera, etcetera. So workplaces need to far more vigilant in screening or checking
employees in their organisation. So you don’t employ to psychopaths to start.
The second thing workplaces should do is put a management strategy in place; maybe not
giving the psychopath access to highly vulnerable people or victims, so that they’re protecting
the majority of the employees in the organisation.
MIRIAM HALL: While Dr John Clarke is warning about psychopaths in workplaces, he does
caution that they are sometimes over-diagnosed.
JOHN CLARKE: The majority of people who come and see me and say, ‘I work with a
workplace psychopath’ do not. There’s a whole range of other reasons why people don’t get
on, but what’s important is not the diagnosis as such, it’s, ‘What’s happening to me at work,
how do I feel at work, and how am I going to go about managing this or fixing the problem’.
MIRIAM HALL: Caroline Dean is a sociologist and a workplace bullying consultant. She says
work place bullying is endemic in size, and affects one in four people in Australia. But she
stresses people should not mistake bullying with standard staff conflict.
CAROLINE DEAN: Bullying is repeated, unreasonable actions or behaviour, and it’s intended
to cause harm through humiliation, victimisation, intimidation.
MIRIAM HALL: She describes Australian organisations’ approach to bullying as a ‘too
reactive’. She says bullying should be addressed before it happens, just like physical dangers
in the workplace.
CAROLINE DEAN: There’s always going to be danger zones and risk factors in organisations
that could lead to a bullying situation. If people look at those and put preventative things in
place, it’s less likely to happen. And if it does happen, or when it does happen, then people, an
organisation will have the capacity to deal with it better.
MARK COLVIN: Workplace bullying consultant Caroline Dean, ending that report from Miriam
Hall.
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