Any reasonable understanding of workplace bullying carries with it the idea of continuance. Bullying is ongoing and violent, and can be physical, psychological or verbal. Bullying is something that is personalised, and the associated behaviour exercises power over another individual who is powerless to make any kind of effective defense. It also results in feelings of isolation and robs the victims of their self-confidence, not to overlook being made to feel inferior. Bullying makes people ill.

The concept of "psychological terrorisation" is understood as "mental torture," and is suitable as a model for understanding bullying. Here the victim experiences trauma which causes stress disorder which may lead eventually to chronic illness, manifesting itself as depression and/or obsession.

Understanding bullying as "the willful, conscious desire to hurt another and put him/her under stress," introduces the notion of the bully's motivation, that is, why he engages in such behavioural expression. While some bullies will admit to intending to hurt and harm their victims, short of this honest admission, this motivation is very difficult to prove. Do bullies engage in this kind of behaviour deliberately? Certainly, there is a hard core of people who know exactly what they are doing, and why, and get a 'buzz' out of inflicting hurt on others. Many people get involved in bullying behaviour as part of the 'in group,' and, because of a lack of personal security, feel they have to 'go with the crowd.' This is as true in the adult world, as it is in the world of children. Some members of this group are unaware that they are causing intense suffering to their victims. However, this point of view must be balanced by acknowledging that there is usually a ring-leader who is the real bully, the godfather behind the aggression, "who orchestrates the behaviour and who has the power to get others to join in." Identifying the real bully is difficult when a group is involved; but the group members know who is "calling the shots."

The numerous victims of bullying to whom I have spoken have never had any difficulty in identifying the 'ring leader,' or the actual bully. Their descriptions of what these bullies did to them were classical and extremely well documented. But not only did the victim know who the real bully was, so also did those who were under the bully's control.

Bullying behaviour is intentional and violent, and never accidental; it is "extraordinarily pervasive," and can occur to anyone at any time, usually from the top down, but can also occur from the bottom up, though this is much less frequent. No one is immune from this workplace evil, and no work situation may be regarded as a safe haven from this anti-social behaviour.

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