A Summary Review of Literature Relating to Workplace Bullying

Abstract

This paper is intended to provide literature signposts for the new researcher into adult bullying. A concise, but not exhaustive, overview of literature relating to workplace bullying is undertaken. It draws on the base provided by work into school bullying and progresses to the arena of adult bullying. In both fields Scandinavian countries have contributed a significant proportion of the research. Research reported in the English language into adult bullying at work is rather limited, but will have emphasis in this paper. Broadly there are two direct approaches; that of investigating the incidence of bullying, and also that of attempting to understand the bullying process. Both approaches are sometimes integrated within a study. There is a wide range of work that can be related to bullying at work, and some of these areas are highlighted.

Understanding the workplace culture of a special care nursery

“…The findings indicate a team that was grappling with the complexity of trying to work successfully together in an atmosphere layered with tension and anxiety. This is consistent with previous research suggesting that nursing culture has cliques (McCloskey 1990) and that group pressure, relationship and communication issues all contribute to a ‘simmering unrest’ in the workplace (Endelman 1993, Rayner & Hoel 1997). These behaviours may be associated with oppression and a reliance on horizontal violence, so that nurses turn to destructive and harassing behaviours (Roberts 1983, Skillings 1992, McCall 1996, Farrell 1997, Quine 1999, Chaboyer et al.…”

Prevalence of workplace bullying and risk groups: a representative population study

“…This finding is somewhat different from previous studies carried out in the UK and Australia where managers and supervisors are most frequently reported as bullies (Hoel and Cooper 2000;Rayner and Hoel 1997;Rayner and Keashly 2005). This comparative lower prevalence of bullying from superiors in Denmark has previously been explained by the low power distance and feminine values that may characterize Scandinavian workplaces (Einarsen 1996;Einarsen 2000;.…”

Bullying within the Forestry Organizations of Turkey

“…Exposure to bullying increases parallel to the ages of the engineers. Similarly to the study of Rayner and Hoel [87], the present study suggests that young engineers are more exposed to bullying compared to the older ones. 44.5% of the young engineers stated that they felt ignored and neglected.…”