ABSTRACT
Incivility and bully events as symptomatic of workplace aggression may be only 10-second encounters spaced over a long period of time, but the time inbetween and following their conclusion does not stop the social, emotional, and psychological harm that remains for the target, the bystanders, or departmental climate/culture. The disempowering events linger, anger festers, and the stress manifests itself in additional physical, psychological, and psychosomatic symptoms for the targeted. These consequences affect the faculty department in negative ways through lost productivity, absenteeism, and collateral damage to bystanders/witnesses and peers. To make matters worse, to discuss bullying within a bully culture becomes socially taboo, making the phenomenon more difficult to discover or uncover. When bully cultures exist, bully behaviors become normative and often continue unchecked. Negativity in an academic unit may be the first sign that chairs/deans need to dig deeper and explore more broadly in order to locate the source(s) of any and all types of workplace aggression.
