IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v10y2020i2p2158244020934493.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“ . . . A Bit of a Joke†: Policy and Workplace Bullying

Author

Listed:
  • Margaret Hodgins
  • Duncan Lewis
  • Sarah MacCurtain
  • Patricia McNamara
  • Victoria Hogan
  • Lisa Pursell

Abstract

Workplace bullying is pervasive and has negative impacts on organizations and their employees. Despite this, organizations generally do not deal well with the problem. Anti-bullying, or Dignity-at-Work policies, do not adequately protect employees from the harms caused by bullying. This study, based on data from the 2018 Irish Workplace Behavior Study, explores experience of organizational responses to workplace bullying, drawing on interviews with participants from three large Irish organizations. One overarching theme and five sub themes emerged from the thematic content analysis, reinforcing earlier findings regarding the complex and problematic nature of workplace bullying and opaque “ownership†of anti-bullying or Dignity-at-Work policy and its implementation. The study concludes that organizations must actively establish a culture of interpersonal respect, rather than simply instituting a policy where ultimately no one takes responsibility. Facilitating employee wellbeing requires social cohesion across an organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Margaret Hodgins & Duncan Lewis & Sarah MacCurtain & Patricia McNamara & Victoria Hogan & Lisa Pursell, 2020. "“ . . . A Bit of a Joke†: Policy and Workplace Bullying," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:10:y:2020:i:2:p:2158244020934493
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244020934493
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244020934493
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244020934493?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mojtaba Vaismoradi & Hannele Turunen & Terese Bondas, 2013. "Content analysis and thematic analysis: Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 398-405, September.
    2. Allison J Ballard & Patricia Easteal, 2018. "The Secret Silent Spaces of Workplace Violence: Focus on Bullying (and Harassment)," Laws, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Thirlwall, Alison, 2015. "Organisational sequestering of workplace bullying: Adding insult to injury," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 145-158, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Patricia Mannix-McNamara & Niamh Hickey & Sarah MacCurtain & Nicolaas Blom, 2021. "The Dark Side of School Culture," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Laura R. Persky & Janet L. Walsh & Ken Pinnock, 2023. "Creating Positive Workplace Culture To Reduce Workplace Bullying," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 17(1), pages 43-53.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sapanna Laysiriroj & Walter Wehrmeyer, 2020. "Intergenerational differences of CSR activities in family-run businesses in eastern Thailand," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Maider Belintxon & Nisha Dogra & Paula McGee & Maria Jesus Pumar‐Mendez & Olga Lopez‐Dicastillo, 2020. "Encounters between children's nurses and culturally diverse parents in primary health care," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(2), pages 273-282, June.
    3. Kenzie Latham-Mintus & Brittney Ortiz & Ashley Irby & Jack Turman, 2024. "Supporting the Development of Grassroots Maternal and Childhood Health Leaders through a Public-Health-Informed Training Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(4), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Emmanuel Songsore & Michael Buzzelli, 2016. "Ontario’s Experience of Wind Energy Development as Seen through the Lens of Human Health and Environmental Justice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    5. Ana Cristina Lindsay & Sherrie F. Wallington & Faith D. Lees & Mary L. Greaney, 2018. "Exploring How the Home Environment Influences Eating and Physical Activity Habits of Low-Income, Latino Children of Predominantly Immigrant Families: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, May.
    6. David P. Ashmore & Roselle Thoreau & Corina Kwami & Nicola Christie & Nicholas A. Tyler, 2020. "Using thematic analysis to explore symbolism in transport choice across national cultures," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 607-640, April.
    7. Satu Elo & Maria Kääriäinen & Outi Kanste & Tarja Pölkki & Kati Utriainen & Helvi Kyngäs, 2014. "Qualitative Content Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(1), pages 21582440145, February.
    8. Borch, Kristian & Munk, Anders K. & Dahlgaard, Vibeke, 2020. "Mapping wind-power controversies on social media: Facebook as a powerful mobilizer of local resistance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    9. Naci Akdemir & Serkan Yenal, 2021. "How Phishers Exploit the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Content Analysis of COVID-19 Themed Phishing Emails," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, July.
    10. Caro Wolfner & Corilyn Ott & Kalani Upshaw & Angela Stowe & Lisa Schwiebert & Robin Gaines Lanzi, 2023. "Coping Strategies and Help-Seeking Behaviors of College Students and Postdoctoral Fellows with Disabilities or Pre-Existing Conditions during COVID-19," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, February.
    11. Christopher Mulwanda & Vincent R. Nyirenda & Ngawo Namukonde, 2024. "Traditional ecological knowledge, perceptions and practices on insect pollinator conservation: A case of the smallholder farmers in Murundu ward of Mufulira mining district of Zambia," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(1), pages 24-35, March.
    12. Chiara Oppi & Cristina Campanale & Lino Cinquini, 2021. "Il problema dell?ambiguit? nei sistemi di misurazione della performance nel settore pubblico: un?analisi della letteratura internazionale," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(2), pages 11-38.
    13. Oznur Korukcu & Ruveyde Aydın & Jane Conway & Kamile Kukulu, 2018. "Motherhood in the shade of migration: A qualitative study of the experience of Syrian refugee mothers living in Turkey," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 46-53, March.
    14. Elke Loots & Josée Leys & Shara Proost & Manuel Morrens & Inge Glazemakers & Tinne Dilles & Bart Van Rompaey, 2022. "Medication Self-Management in Hospitalised Patients with Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder: The Perceptions of Patients and Healthcare Providers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-11, April.
    15. Anna Rogozinska-Pawelczyk, 2022. "The Manager as an Organisation Agent during the Fourth Industrial Revolution," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 509-529.
    16. Issah Justice Musah-Surugu & Albert Ahenkan & Justcie Nyigmah Bawole, 2019. "Too weak to lead: motivation, agenda setting and constraints of local government to implement decentralized climate change adaptation policy in Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 587-607, April.
    17. Rebecca A. Johnson & David L. Albright & James R. Marzolf & Jessica L. Bibbo & Hayley D. Yaglom & Sandra M. Crowder & Gretchen M. Carlisle & Karen Grindler & Nathan Harms & Amy Willard & Marita Wassma, 2021. "Experiences of Military Veterans in a Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program," Clinical Nursing Research, , vol. 30(7), pages 923-933, September.
    18. Chen Zhang & Kevin Fiscella & Yu Liu, 2022. "Exploring the Role of Provider–Patient Communication in Women’s Sexual Health and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Care in the Primary Care Settings in New York State of the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-15, July.
    19. Juliet Aweko & Jeroen De Man & Pilvikki Absetz & Claes-Göran Östenson & Stefan Swartling Peterson & Helle Mölsted Alvesson & Meena Daivadanam, 2018. "Patient and Provider Dilemmas of Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management: A Qualitative Study in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Communities in Stockholm," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, August.
    20. Oliver Laasch & Dirk C. Moosmayer & Frithjof Arp, 2020. "Responsible Practices in the Wild: An Actor-Network Perspective on Mobile Apps in Learning as Translation(s)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 253-277, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:10:y:2020:i:2:p:2158244020934493. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.