bullying

• First Meeting
• Commission on Bullying, research effort update
• Social and Demographic Trends Affecting Bullying
• Thoughts on Shaming

The committee to assess the prevalence and scale of bullying will meet on July 17 from 10:30am-12pm

Purpose

Where

100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA. Second Floor Conference Room B

I am enjoying the challenge of being a Commissioner, because it gives me a chance to work on your behalf, partnering with dedicated public servants. We need your input and support to solve the problem of bullying and thus make our public and subsidized housing healthy and safe places to live.

The Commission on Bullying of elderly and disabled persons in multifamily public and subsidized housing will hold "listening sessions" in the framework of hearings for the Olmstead plan in Boston on Monday, June 26 and in Springfield on Wednesday, June 28.

• Testimony and comments wanted on Olmstead plan, bullying
• Advise study of bullying
• New elder abuse phone reporting system

Let's begin a conversation on how best to stop bullying of elderly and disabled persons in multifamily housing. There are four elements needed to stop bullying and create a healthy community...

A request from Jerry Halberstadt, Coordinator, Stop Bullying Coalition—I am reaching out to seek your collaboration and input, regardless of your role in multifamily housing. Bullying affects all the stakeholders, and each role and individual brings some unique perspectives. I am asking that you respond to a simple questionnaire, your answers can be as short or long as you like.

It has now been about two months since we moved away from Pariah Street, and I am happy to report, that on the surface at least, life for the residents continues on with slow but steady improvements. Many of us—management, residents, and I—intend to continue to strengthen the relationships of the residents with each other, while at the same time continue to improve the communication between the residents and the housing authority and the police.

I strongly recommend Bullying Among Older Adults: How to Recognize and Address an Unseen Epidemic, a timely and important resource. There is much of value which could be adapted to settings with diverse clients including independent-living elderly and younger people living with disability, so it could be very helpful for managers, staff, and resident service coordinators working in multifamily subsidized housing. The primary audience consisting of administrators and professional staff in residential environments providing assistive, supportive, or nursing services will find this an essential guide to enhancing the quality of life and work in their residential communities.

Robin P. Bonifas et. al., Bullying Among Older Adults: How to Recognize and Address an Unseen Epidemic, (Baltimore:Health Professions Press, 2016).

Janice Harper was a successful anthropologist, an assistant professor teaching and doing research at the University of Tennessee, when her promising career was ended by mobbing. She had established herself as an expert on health and environment and initiated a graduate program in Human Rights. When her own rights were threatened at work, she reported concerns about an employee’s conduct toward her and other women. Instead of receiving a fair hearing and protection, she was mobbed by university administrators and junior faculty, even including her friends and colleagues.