“'Drafting a Letter' for People Dealing with Harassment or Bullying"

Abstract

As an early ombuds, the author discovered that drafting a structured letter about being mistreated often helped constituents—with respect to both process and outcomes. This article describes the origins of “drafting a letter” with its uses, benefits, and sources of power. Drafting such a letter provides a tripartite structure (see the Appendix) for a mistreated person to present evidence—from diaries, calendars, communications, videos, photos, phone records, etc. This structure helps in considering many options for action, for example, just thinking things through, gathering more evidence, informal discussions, mediation, or a formal complaint. Or the writer may send the letter privately to the perceived offender; such letters may work to stop specific misbehavior. If the behavior then does not stop, a safe-guarded copy of the letter can be used as evidence that the writer tried to stop it. And—very importantly—just drafting a letter may help with pain, anger, and grief.