Community Norms, Social Distancing & Bullying

Introduction

Community norms can either promote a healthy, caring community or lead to a toxic community that is harmful. In public and subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled, failure to control bullying and mobbing (group bullying) creates a toxic community, while failing to prevent transmission of COVID-19 can create a deadly situation. Among the factors that may influence community norms and adherence to those norms are the goals and methods of several actors—norms of the local municipality, the landlord or local housing authority, the management and staff, and tenants, including tenants associations.

One method of management to maintain community norms is compassionate: establishing trust and improving communication and understanding.

Another method is assertive: intervening to stop inappropriate behavior by warnings and sanctions.

Comparisons

I have compared cases of six housing developments with respect to bullying, group bullying or mobbing, and conformity to social distancing protocols; and have done so before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the housing authority cases involved an ongoing transition from a toxic situation.

Findings

A gentle, compassionate approach to management succeeds in the absence of prior mobbing; and so does an assertive, interventionist approach. But on the record presented here, the assertive, interventionist approach may be better suited to rapidly stopping prior group bullying/mobbing. Both approaches have proven merit in specific contexts, and a combination of these approaches or styles may be the most effective management tool-kit. Tenants associations can have a positive or negative impact on community norms.

Summary

In public and subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled, failure to control bullying and mobbing (group bullying) creates a toxic community, while failing to prevent transmission of COVID-19 can create a deadly situation.

Some landlords, local housing authorities, managers, and tenants are able to cooperate to establish and enforce community norms, prevent bullying, and enforce regulations on COVID-19. Others are unable or unwilling, or cannot overcome resistance. Part of the problem may be failure to understand the differences between bullying, group bullying, and mobbing—they respond to different strategies of control.

Can we find examples of success and failure in establishing community norms? Can we understand what makes for these differences? Can we then go ahead and provide practical insights and policy directions to enable landlords, managers, tenants, and the makers of policy to improve the management of housing?

I have compared six housing developments with respect to bullying, group bullying or mobbing, and conformity to social distancing protocols; and have done so before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. I found that when all stakeholders seek a healthy environment, they can achieve it using a gentle, compassionate management style as well as when they use an assertive style, intervening quickly to set limits. The assertive management style is more effective, at least in the short run, in stopping group bullying/mobbing. A combination of compassionate and assertive styles may be the most effective choice. In the healthy environments I looked at, there was little or no group bullying/mobbing and no resistance to the COVID-19 public health measures. Where there was a recent history of mobbing, public health measures were resisted.

In responding to the COVID-19 crisis, the leadership of the housing community will be better able to work with staff and residents to protect the community if they have established trust and collaboration. There is an adage about the best time to plant a tree: “Twenty years ago is the best time, but the next best time is today.” Changing the culture of a residential community takes time. So if there is a problem today, such as bullying or residents not following the protective protocols, it is important to begin the work of creating trust and collaborative relationships along with setting limits; even though it would have been better to have begun two years ago.

According to Atul Gawande, MD, we must adapt the strategies for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in the hospital setting to any residential setting, such as Lasell Village, a community for seniors. He notes that creating a new cultural norm in a community takes effort, persistence, and motivation. Anne Doyle, the president of Lasell Village, told Gawande, “When you have a community that cares about each other, then people are interested in adhering [to the guidelines] for other people.”

Outcomes—establishing community norms

I wanted to test the prediction that we would see movement towards a more healthy community if all the stakeholders wanted the change—civic leaders, housing authority, management, social workers, and tenants. Constitution City demonstrates that such progress can happen when the executive director uses a compassionate approach and works to develop trust. But this method had only partial success by the time that COVID-19 happened. Progress was limited by the continuing impact of some members of the tenants association, a group who had used group bullying/mobbing.

• Bullying and mobbing is related to resistance to public health protocols.
• A compassionate approach to management succeeds in the absence of prior mobbing; and so does an assertive, interventionist approach.
• But on the record presented here, the assertive, interventionist approach may be better suited to rapidly stopping prior group bullying/mobbing.
• Both approaches have proven merit in specific contexts, and a combination of these approaches or styles may be the most effective management tool-kit.

This post is part of a longer paper that presents details of the research. It is available by writing using the "contact" link, and ask for "Community Norms, Social Distancing & Bullying" as a PDF file. Please provide your name, tenant or other status, and zip code.