Elsevier

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Volume 5, Issue 4, July–August 2000, Pages 379-401
Aggression and Violent Behavior

Harassment and bullying at work: A review of the scandinavian approach

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(98)00043-3Get rights and content

Abstract

A hostile work environment, in which insulting or offensive remarks, persistent criticism, personal abuse, or even physical abuse and threats prevail, is a reality for many employees in both public and private organizations. In Scandinavia, the term “mobbing” is commonly used to describe situations where a worker, supervisor, or manager is systematically and repeatedly mistreated and victimized by fellow workers, subordinates, or superiors. The term is widely used in situations where repeated aggressive and even violent behavior is directed against an individual over some period of time. Although some clinical and anecdotal accounts have been described by American authors, studies of this phenomenon have mainly been restricted to the Northern European countries. The aim of this study is threefold: (1) to present a framework for future research and theory development in this field, (2) to review the Scandinavian research tradition according to this framework, and (3) to provide some suggestions for future research.

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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