Harassment and bullying at work: A review of the scandinavian approach
Section snippets
Definitions of bullying and harassment at work
Different terms and concepts have been used in the study of situations where coworkers, superiors, subordinates, or even customers/clients systematically pick on, harass, or pester an employee at work, such as “psychological terror” (Leymann, 1990), “scapegoating” (Thylefors, 1987), “health endangering leadership” Kile 1990a, Kile 1990b, “work abuse” (Bassman, 1992), and “victimization” (Olweus, 1994). However, mobbing seems to be the surviving term in Scandinavia (Olweus, 1991). Origin and use
Frequency and risk groups
Recent data indicate that bullying and harassment at work is a widespread problem, at least in Scandinavian working life. In a study of 7986 Norwegian employees, encompassing a broad array of organizations and professions, some 8.6% had experienced bullying and harassment at work during the last six months (Einarsen & Skogstad, 1996). Many of the victims had been victimized for an extended period of time. Mean duration of these episodes was reported to be 18 months. Hence, bullying as reported
Consequences of bullying and harassment at work
Harassment at work is claimed to be a more crippling and devastating problem for employees than all other work-related stressors together (Wilson, 1991). Also Zapf, Knorz, and Kulla (1996) and Niedl (1995) view bullying as a rather severe form of social stress at work. Others have claimed that work harassment is a major cause of suicide Leymann 1990, Leymann 1992. Based on clinical examinations, it has been observed that many victims suffer from symptoms under the domain of post-traumatic
Antecedents of bullying and harassment at work
Looking at the existing literature on bullying in Scandinavia, three causal models may be distinguished, emphasizing personality traits of victim/offender, inherent and general characteristics of human interaction in organizations, or organizational climate and work environment specific to an organization. Based on case studies, Leymann (1996) claims that four factors are prominent in probability of harassment at work: (1) deficiencies in work design, (2) deficiencies in leadership behavior,
Dynamic view
By and large, the cross-sectional designs of most studies in this field and the extensive use of survey methods, constitutes a static approach to the study of bullying at work. However, some authors have treated bullying in a more dynamic way, describing harassment as an escalating process Björkqvist 1992, Kile 1990b, Leymann 1988, Leymann 1992, Thylefors 1987. Based on empirical data from university employees, Björkqvist (1992) identified three phases in a typical harassment case. The first
A Theoretical Framework
Despite the proliferation of recent research in Northern Europe, the field is still in its infancy. First of all, there is a considerable lack of both intervention studies as well as research testing comprehensive conceptual-based models. Although some prevention and intervention programs have been described (Adams, 1992; Einarsen et al. 1994, Kaye 1994, Leymann 1990, Leymann 1991, Leymann 1992, Resch & Schubinski 1996), none have been based on any testable model of bullying at work. The lack
Future research
Although a controversial issue in the field, future research has to address the issue of personal factors in both victim and offenders as antecedents of harassment. Although research on personality and conflict management has revealed some mixed results (Utley, Richardson, & Pilkington, 1989), personality is seen as the prominent factor in a person's capability of operating in his or her social environment (Appelberg et al., 1991). Children high on proactive aggression have, for instance, been
Conclusions
The growing research field of sexual harassment (Terpstra & Baker, 1991), as well as research in the field of bully/victim problems in schools (Olweus, 1994), pinpoint the importance of identifying bullying and harassment at work for explicit research and scrutiny. Phenomena that are not acknowledged are rarely studied (Wood, 1993). At present, bullying and workplace harassment is to a great extent a “taboo,” and rarely studied, at least outside of Scandinavia Björkqvist et al. 1994, Niedl 1995
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