Power, Status, and Abuse at Work: General and Sexual Harassment Compared

Abstract

Workplace harassment can be devastating for employees and damaging for organizations. In this article, we expand the literature by identifying common and distinct processes related to general workplace harassment and workplace sexual harassment. Using both structural equation modeling and in-depth case immersion, we analyze content-coded data from the full population of workplace ethnographies-ethnographies that provide in-depth information on the nature and causes of both general and sexual harassment that would otherwise be difficult to gather. Importantly, both forms of harassment emerge in settings characterized by physically demanding work and minority work groups. In such contexts, both general and sexual harassment enforce formal and informal status hierarchies and social exclusion. Grievance mechanisms and "team models" of workplace organization reduce sexual harassment but have no effect on general harassment. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical, legal, and policy implications for identifying and remedying harassment as a widespread and devastating form of inequality and social exclusion in organizations.Workplace harassment can be devastating, seriously harming individuals and organizations by undermining norms of civility and mutual respect (Ashforth 1994). In legal terms, such injuries are termed "dignitary harm" (Kleinschmidt 2005), and studies report that between 10 and 20 percent of employees are subjected to it each year (Rayner, Hoel, and Cooper 2002:23; Zapf et al. 2003:105-108). Moreover, the resulting shame and despair often last long after the harassment has ended (Hodson 2001;Vaez, Ekberg, and LaFlamme 2004).The workplace is an arena rife with power differentials that are at the core of many forms of abusive workplace behavior (Walker and Zelditch 1993). Yet, various types of workplace harassment are, more often than not, examined separately rather than comparatively, and within distinct, nonoverlapping literatures. Consequently, how unique forms of workplace harassment relate to one another is not well understood. In particular, not enough is known about the extent to which different kinds of workplace harassment stem from the same or unique underlying causes-a question with important implications for prevention.In this article, we address the aforementioned question and extend the literature by comparing general workplace harassment with workplace sexual harassment. We adapt the "routine activities" model of deviance to organizational contexts, and then estimate the *Direct all correspondence to

Career advancement and gender equity in healthcare management

“…Our findings indicate that men who had not yet been promoted to senior management were even less supportive of efforts to increase the proportion of women in senior management than were men who had already been promoted. This is noteworthy because men may use sexual harassment in the workplace to maintain power and control, particularly when women are viewed as a threat to male jobs (Lopez et al, 2009). Bell et al (2002) argue that because of the interconnectedness of the glass ceiling and sexual harassment, efforts to reduce one will partially address the other.…”

“I Didn't Recognize It as a Bad Experience until I was Much Older”: Age, Experience, and Workers’ Perceptions of Sexual Harassment

“…Increasingly, researchers are asking how sexualized workplace interactions become labeled sexual harassment, in what contexts they are labeled, and by whom (Bellas and Gossett 2001;Blakely, Blakely, and Moorman 1995;Giuffre and Williams 1994;Lerum 2004;Lopez, Hodson, and Roscigno 2009;Magley and Shupe 2005;Mueller, DeCoster, and Estes 2001;Quinn 2002;Vaux 1993;Welsh, Carr, MacQuarrie, and Huntley 2006;Williams 1997). We expand upon this line of questioning, asking how understandings of sexual behaviors at work change for workers as they age and gain new life and work experiences.…”

Discrimination, harassment, abuse, and bullying in the workplace: Contribution of workplace injustice to occupational health disparities

“…Reflecting historical and current societal power imbalances, forces within and outside workplaces can result in the mistreatment of workers (individually or as a group) through unjust practices [Jones 2000, Turney 2003, Hodson, et al 2006, Lopez, et al 2009]. We theorize that mistreatment of workers in the workplace may exacerbate health disparities between groups of workers.…”