title: Bullying, hazing, and workplace harassment: the nexus in professional sports as exemplified by the first NFL Wells report.
abstract: In the sporting context there is a significant nexus between adult workplace harassment and two other critical, developmentally related areas, that of child and adolescent bullying, and college hazing. These are all addressed, albeit obliquely and perhaps inadvertently, in the Miami Dolphins saga and the subsequent NFL Wells Report of 2013-2014. This is a significant document. It is even a brave, if politically expedient milestone. It evaluates the complex inter-personal and inter- and intra-systemic contributions within a sporting organization. Wells also elucidates a case where there is overlapping damage to individuals and systems as a result of malignant bullying, harassment, and hazing within overlapping systems. Constructive approaches to team building, and other positive alternatives to hazing may be the best place to initiate trust and verify institutional change at all these levels.
authors.affiliation: a Kaiser Permanente, West Los Angeles , UCLA Department of Psychiatry , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Tofler
mesh_terms: D056352:Athletes; D058445:Bullying; D006801:Humans; D013177:Sports; D017132:Workplace
keywords: Bullying; cyber-bullying; hazing; sport psychiatry; substance abuse; workplace harassment