Reasons for the Research on Institutional Bullying (IB)

Greetings, respected parliamentarians, bureaucrats, faculty members, researchers, and students on Canada Graduate Scholarships, heads of NGOs, and other leaders,

I am taking this opportunity to enclose a document on the root cause of adult bullying and request you to kindly review the same with a sense of justice and commitment. If you believe that I have missed something or misunderstood anything or misrepresented the facts, please let me know immediately.

The content includes a passionate plea about the issue of institutional bullying and its impact on seniors. It also mentions the lack of research on this topic and seeks partnership for conducting research.

However, if you believe in your heart that the contents of this blog and the enclosed document are true, kindly share your thoughts and comment freely on how you can make a difference.

What I have experienced and seen how senior citizens are treated in Canada astounds me. 

I cannot believe how the entire Philippine government system treats seniors with respect and compassion. Do you believe that they take the Philippines Senior Citizens Act very seriously? 

There are separate lines for senior citizens at banks, grocery stores, government offices, etc. 

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7432 . AN ACT TO MAXIMIZE THE CONTRIBUTION OF SENIOR CITIZENS TO NATION BUILDING, GRANT BENEFITS AND SPECIAL PRIVILEGES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

I do not expect this to happen in Canada. But what is missing in Canada is the true compassion for seniors, mainly because those that have the power to make a change do not understand that they themselves are engaged in the aging process and one day they too will face the challenges seniors are facing today.

I have been doing my due diligence and have a blog, www.info2write,com where I have documented under various headings what seniors living in seniors independent living facilities (SILF) in Canada are facing today.

The enclosed document describes various issues and instances related to elder abuse and bullying in seniors’ residences, which can be seen as forms of institutional bullying. These examples collectively illustrate various forms of psychological abuse which leads to early mortality, as described by Dr. Gloria M. Gutman, PhD, OBC President, International Network for Prevention of Elder Abuse & Professor Emerita and Former Director, Simon Fraser University Gerontology Research Centre and Dept of Gerontology (Lachs, Williams, O’Brien et al. 1998) https://cnpea.ca/images/gloria-gutman-older-adult-bullying-psychological-abuse-by-a-different-name.pdf]

Research associated with resident-to-resident bullying in senior living facilities (i.e., senior bullying), has been growing in recent years due to anecdotal stories in the press. Few studies, however – for reasons unknown – have assessed institutional bullying from the perspective of residents. Unfortunately, the Seniors Anti-Bullying project has not even touched on the most critical component of seniors anti-bullying in seniors’ independent living facilities. And that is why I have been passionately addressing this subject via my blogs and my emails. 

Bullying is bad anywhere and anyhow. Adult bullying is also bad, but, when you have people in power bullying the vulnerable and powerless, it is serious. Adult bullying has long been a problem and the subject of research over the years. Peer-to-peer bullying (P2PB) or resident to resident bullying in seniors independent living facilities (SILF) has long been a matter of concern because of the implications of P2PB. 

However, it is my desire to engage in discussion about institutional bullying (IB) – where people in power in SILFs engage in bullying mainly because they have the power.

But when you combine P2PB and IB, the situation becomes worse and unbearable. The victims then live under the stress of abuse. This leads to physiological and psychological challenges for which research has not been sufficiently done. Ultimately, living under the stress of abuse often leads to earlier mortality. 

There are several avenues to undertake research projects. May I respectfully request your suggestion as to how I can be a partner with your organization to apply for very important and critical research on institutional bullying (IB) under the Research partnerships program? I understand that this may not happen immediately, but at least that organization would be a pioneer in undertaking a research project that has not been done before – on INSTITUTIONAL BULLYING – by any institution – as far as I know.

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your kind commitment to justice. Remember the words of Martin Luther King 

 “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. . We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly…”.

Sincerely,

Tino Sequeira

Email: Tino8466@Right2Write.ca  

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