Heinz Leymann (17 July 1932 – 26 January 1999) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

academic, famous for his studies on

mobbing Mobbing, as a sociological term, means bullying of an individual by a group, in any context, such as a family, peer group, school, workplace, neighborhood, community, or online. When it occurs as physical and emotional abuse in the workplace, suc ...

among humans. He held a degree in pedagogical psychology, and another one in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psych ...

and worked as a psychologist. He was a professor at

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2 ...

Academic background

Born in 1932 in

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Leymann, became a Swedish citizen in the mid-1950s, and was awarded his PhD in pedagogical psychology from Stockholm University in 1978. He then went on to get another research doctorate (''doktor i medicinsk vetenskap'', "doctor of medical science," typically translated into English as PhD) in psychiatry in 1990 from

. Somewhat unusually, his doctorate in psychiatry was based on his clinical background as a psychologist; he did not go through medical training.

Leymann's work on mobbing

Leymann pioneered research into

in the 1980s. His initial research in the area was based on detailed case studies of a number of nurses who had committed or tried to commit suicide due to events at the workplace. He developed the Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror (LIPT), a questionnaire of 45 mobbing actions. Although he preferred the term bullying in the context of school children, some have come to regard mobbing as a form of group bullying. As professor and practicing psychologist, Leymann also noted one of the side-effects of mobbing is

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...

and is frequently misdiagnosed. Among researchers who have built on Leymann's work are: * Davenport, Schwartz & ElliottDavenport NZ, Schwartz RD & Elliott G
Mobbing, Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace
3rd Edition 2005, Civil Society Publishing. Ames, IA, * Hecker * Shallcross, Ramsay & Barker * Westhues * Zapf & EinarsenZapf D & Einarsen S 2005 "Mobbing at Work: Escalated Conflicts in Organizations."

Counterproductive Work Behavior Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) is employee behavior that goes against the legitimate interests of an organization. These behaviors can harm organizations or people in organizations including employees a ...

: Investigations of Actors and Targets. Fox, Suzy & Spector, Paul E. Washington, DC:

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

vii. p.

References

Duffy, M., & Sperry, L. (2012). ''Mobbing: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions''. New York: Oxford University Press.

External links

The Mobbing Encyclopaedia
Website concerning Leymann's work on mobbing.

Website dedicated to the research of Dr. Heinz Leymann. {{DEFAULTSORT:Leymann, Heinz Academics and writers on bullying Workplace bullying 1932 births 1999 deaths Swedish psychologists Swedish psychiatrists Swedish people of German descent Stockholm University alumni Umeå University alumni Academic staff of Umeå University 20th-century psychologists

Academic background

Leymann's work on mobbing

See also

References

External links