Abstract
Bullying at work has been studied as a discreet concept for over a decade. Throughout this period, those engaged in the field have been conscious of the boundaries of 'bullying' with other highly related areas such as sexual and racial harassment. In acknowledging these types of boundaries, authors have been sensitive to the level of overlap between bullying and the other form of harassment. This has led to the preservation of discreet domains of harassment (e.g. racial, sexual, disability) as areas of study.
However research has shown a blurring of general psychological harassment (bullying) at work and these discreet areas. Earnshaw and Cooper (2001) found that UK lawyers reported 'bullying' as the real underlying problem in many legal cases that were ostensibly brought on sexual or racial grounds – possibly as there is no law against bullying specifically in the UK. As a result consideration has been given as to whether bullying should be the overarching concept under which racism and sexism (for example) sit, or indeed whether these concepts should be examined on their own (Rayner, Hoel & Cooper, 2002). Thus contention exists over the topic boundaries of bullying at work. The author considers these 'territorial' discussions potentially distracting, preferring to see one larger whole rather than many smaller isolated elements.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - Jun 2004 |
| Event | The Fourth International Conference on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace - Bergen, Norway Duration: 28 Jun 2004 → 29 Jun 2004 |
Conference
| Conference | The Fourth International Conference on Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Norway |
| City | Bergen |
| Period | 28/06/04 → 29/06/04 |