Final Submission. Rmt

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Aggression, Violence and Harassmentfaced by individuals in an organization

SUBMITTED TO: Ms. AISHA EHSAN

SUBMITTED BY: ANIS UL HASSAN

SHEIKH HANAN ELAHI

RAZA MURAD

SUBMITTED ON: 03-Oct-12


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LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION:

AGGRESSION:

Aggression refers to any behavior that is hostile, destructive, and/or violent. Generally,

aggressive behavior has the potential to inflict injury or damage to the target person or object.

Examples:

Physical Objects Property Destruction Verbal Threats Self-Harming behaviors.

VIOLENCE:

The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another

person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of

resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.

Examples:

Intimidating, harassing, bullying, belligerent, or other inappropriate and aggressivebehavior. Numerous conflicts with customers, co-workers, or supervisors. Bringing a weapon to the workplace (unless necessary for the job)

HARASSMENT:

Unwanted conduct on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation.

Examples:

Any behavior that demeans, embarrasses, humiliates, annoys, alarms or verbally abuses aperson and that is known or would be expected to be unwelcome. This includes words,gestures, intimidation, bullying, or other inappropriate activities.

Making sexual comments, or abusing someone's race, religion or sexual orientation.


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BACKGROUND:

1. Workplace Aggression:

LeBlanc, M.M. and Barling, J. (2004) observes that members of the public or

organizational outsiders have the largest contribution in workplace aggression. Internal

employees of the organization rarely beat their colleagues to death, but they are mostly

found in mentally torturing them by physical means of beating, mugging, etc. A good

number of these internal members actions are non-staged acts such as making noisy

sounds, backbiting or cross-talking about their colleagues.It is exhibited that unfairness

& inequality and poor management have been the frequent causes of the members

aggression. The author concludes that these aggression-hit people has shown signs of

weak health and negative emotions (engaged in a disturbed state of mind) which has

marked a drop off in their productivity caused by unconstructive behaviors.[1]

2. Workplace Bullying:

The universal competition has given birth to numerous problems for the managers one of

which is bullying in the workplace. The furious increase in the rate of change on the

working complications has dragged bullying as a common act inside the working

environment. The respective article allows to look into the fundamentals from where

bullying has emerged with the help ofnature which means that the habit of bullying is

largely affected by the innate genetic make-up of an individual as well as nurture

which means that one develops this habit by getting affected by his surroundings or other

natural environment.Furthermore, the managers are taught to measure and look upon the

acts of bullying in large-scale organizations. (Harvey et al., 2008)[2]

3. Workplace Harassment: This donates in spoiling the workplace. The study reveals

that harassment is emerged on the grounds of religion, belief, disability, race or other

differences as per US legal definition (Carbo, 2008), and may also be considered

illegitimate in the case of unjust outcome, poor decisions of availing a certain job like

termination or demotion. Sexual harassment is a branch of workplace harassment

issues recognized with gender/sex lines. [3] (Fitzgerald et al., 1999, p. 249)[4] states

many of the four behaviors of sexual harassmentsexist behavior, sexual hostility,

unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion.The definition says Sexist behaviors

are experiences that can be considered primarily discriminatory based on ones sex


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This partly covered definition can make distinction between antecedents and outcomes

of gender discrimination versus harassment somehow complex. The rest of the three

definitions describe harassment in a more sexual manner.

Conclusion:

Workplace violence is a complex and common issue faced by almost all the organizations

that has grabbed the minds of vast majority of people, health experts, psychotherapists

and other law-enforcement professionals. The extended variety of acts that list under this

rubric culture include all violent behaviorand rapidly increasing threats of violence, as

well as any demeanor that can result in physical injury, damage to property, induced

sense of fear, and otherwise impede the normal course of work. Threats, harassment,

violence, intimidation, bullying, stalking, intimated partner violence, physical or sexual

assaults, and homicides list within this category. [5]

Workplace Violence real life incident:

Dimoff, T.A., president at a local firm in Ohio, found a member of the organization

threatening to his colleague that he would go home and get his gun (out of frustration).

The HR department immediately responded to this unfavorable situation whereby Dimoff

communicated the worker in person and talked the matter out by and settled it. The

worker was also provided with counseling in order to calm him down for the good sake

of the organization in future. (Stephenie Chen, 2010).

When the matter was further investigated, the results revealed that this person was over-

burdened with office work and had no leisure time which means that he was equipped

with many office chores and had less time to rest. He had many responsibilities which

forced him to burst out into frustration and behave in such indifferent way. It is

recommended that the employees get free time for leisure activities in order to get an

effective output. [6]

Workplace Bullying real life incident:

Ron Thomas:

As I opened the door, I saw her with her back turned and shoulders slumped.

When she turned around, I could see that she had been crying. I felt bad but it made


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me realize that I am not the only one who gets verbally abused. The kicker was that

she was a senior level person.

This incident took place to a senior lady manager who was insulted by her senior

manager in a room full of people.

When Ron Thomas interrogated the matter, he was told that everyone in the organization

has to undergo such behavior. Gradually, many workers in the office are seen shouting

and affected by the unjust behavior of the seniors. The disease has charged the employees

of the organization with minute mental disorders.

We hear many such complaints from many employees belonging to different

organizations, especially large-scale organizations. The seniors dont realize, but they

should revise their attitudes towards their subordinates. This strict manner affects the

production and environment of the organization in a very negative way. Such sort of

behavior only brings devastation and destruction in the performance of the organization,

and may result in increasing complains, unhygienic behavior, lower interactions,

communication gaps, high-turnover rates and unpleasant environments. [7]

Workplace Harassment Real Life Incident:

According to Wikipedia (2010), the suicide of Phoebe Prince (dated as January 14,

2010) emerged as charging some teenagers with few obligations. They had to face

criminal trial for charges including statutory rape and civil rights violations, as well as to

the passing of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts state legislature. It

further points out that Prince changed his designation to South Hadley, Massachusetts,

from Ireland. The lines of the newspaper said, Her suicide, after suffering months

of harassment from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of

bullying in US schools.Meeting the date of March 2010, a committee shaped up for the

cause of her death. The Massachusetts legislation emerged as on May 3, 2010. The

accused teenagers were then brought into custody to face the trials in 2011 with reference

to the trial hearings on 15th September, 2010. The accused group was found guilty on 5th

May, 2011. [8]


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TABLE[9]

: 21st

century bullying.

Comparison of peer and bullying conflict

(Treadway et.al., 2008)

Some people are not affected by bullying like the others; the trauma throughwhich everyone goes is different. Different people respond in different ways to

bullying. Some people are not effected as deeply as the others. Some people are

so tormented that they end up taking their own life to escape the misery others

have put them through.

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_prevention

It is obvious that the physical disability is not the main reason for people being forced to leave

their jobs (Vickers, 2009, as cited in LaRocca et al., 1982). Recently, bullying at work has

become a major issue and people are trying to recognize it as problem that is troubling most

organizations(Vickers, 2009, as cited in Einarsen et al., 1994; Hoel et al., 2003). Bullying can

be extremely harmful, it's effects on the human personality are shockingly devastating. Bullying

includes being hostile or threatening someone verbally, nonverbally, or harassing them(Vickers,

2009, as cited in Yamada, 2000, pp. 478; Felson, 2000, pp. 10) . Other ways to bully include


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lying, cheating, bad-mouthing, using unethical language, increasing workload unnecessarily,

stereotyping(Vickers, 2009, as cited in Gabriel, 1998; Farrell, et al., 1999).[10]

It has been argued that three responses have been observed from organizational representatives

when it comes to bullying: (1) see no evil, (2) hear no evil, and (3) speak no evil (Ferris, 2004,

pp. 391). The see no evil was found in organizations where representatives had decided not to

interfere with bullying or any other unacceptable activity being carried out; slowly this negative

behavior became somewhat acceptable, when in actuality it was not the case. Also, the employee

being bullied was blamed for not being able to defend him/herself and for being a weakling. [11]

Everyone should be educated about bullying so its impact on the organizations is lessened.

Bullying does not have a legal status, as yet, although some states have passed bills that condemn

it. However, there are still many organizations that are not taking bullying as a serious issue,

despite of its growing awareness.

STRATEGIES TO PREVENT HARASSMENT IN WORKPLACE:[12]

Strategies for Prevention

There are a number of steps that you can take to reduce the risk of sexual harassment occurring

in your workplace.

Adopt a clear sexual harassment policy. In your employee handbook, you should havea policy devoted to sexual harassment. That policy should:

define sexual harassment state in no uncertain terms that you will not tolerate sexual harassment state that you will discipline or fire any wrongdoers set out a clear procedure for filing sexual harassment complaints state that you will investigate fully any complaint that you receive, and State that you will not tolerate retaliation against anyone who complains about

sexual harassment.

Train employees. At least once a year, conduct training sessions for employees. Thesesessions should teach employees what sexual harassment is, explain that employees have


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a right to a workplace free of sexual harassment, review your complaint procedure, and

encourage employees to use it.

Train supervisors and managers. At least once a year, conduct training sessions forsupervisors and managers that are separate from the employee sessions. The sessions

should educate the managers and supervisors about sexual harassment and explain how todeal with complaints.


PREVENTING WORKPLACE VIOLENCE:[13]

1. IMPLEMENT SECURITY MEASURES:

Security measures can range from a simple locked door to a full time security guard. Companies

should install security systems that adequately ensure employees safety.

The following actions can help to reduce work place violence:

* Make high-risk areas known and visible to more people.

* Install good external lighting.

* Use drop safes to minimize cash on hand.

* Install silent alarms and/or surveillance cameras.


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* Provide training in conflict resolution and non violent response behaviour.

* Have policy/security routinely check on workers.

* Close establishments during high-risk hours, late at night or early in the morning.

DUTIES OF EMPLOYEES:

* Instruct employees to:

Report any unescorted visitors To establish and follow good opening and closing procedures. To use all security devices available, such as locks, lights and alarms.

2. HIRE CAUTIOUSLY:

An important step to minimize workplace violence is to minimize the chance ofhiring a violent worker.

First the employer should carefully review the employment applicationlooking for any irregularities in the applicants employment or educational

background. Second, because there is a high likelihood that the violent worker has

experienced some sort of problem at a previous employer, complete reference

checks are critical.

Whitmore and Kleiner (2005)illustrate that Violence in the work place has continued to

increase in recent years and, unfortunately there is no reason to believe the trend will sub side.

This fact places employers in a difficult position. They must balance their obligations to ensure asafe work environment with restrictions that limit their ability to weed out individuals most

likely to engage in violent behavior. Companies need to be pro active without being over

reactive.[14]

RESEARCH : (source: FBI)

Research has shown that many of these situations are over in minutes and law enforcement may not arrive

in time. As a result, employees have to become stakeholders in their own safety and security and develop

a survival mind-set comprised of awareness, preparation, and rehearsal. Vigorous prevention programs,

timely intervention, and appropriate responses by organizations and their employees will contribute

significantly to a safe and secure work environment.


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Critical Analysis:

We have used a quantitative approach, i.e., deductive approach to complete our research on the

issues faced by the individuals within an organization. Studying the facts and figures, we have

also learnt many issues that bother an individual in his professional career such as bullying, and

other inappropriate measures carried out of frustration whereby aggressive, violent behaviors and

incidents of sexual harassment have been discussed in detail. Following criticism would hinder

the birth of all these problems:

There could be organizations having a different department for fresh recruits whokeep a strict eye on each of them to save these individuals from bullies. Recruits are hired carefully, keeping in view their capability of soft skills and

conceptual skills that would help in maintaining a peaceful environment

guarding their people from major frustrations that may give rise to number of

issues.

Providing the employees with monetary and non-monetary benefits would have apositive impact on the environment of the workplace free from any aggressive

or violent behaviors Countries like Saudi Arabia would render least results of sexual harassments as

women there are not allowed to work and their controlled crime rate would also

hinder the rise of any experiences which could be harmful to the society.


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REVIEW IN THE LIGHT OF PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

This world has become a global village and we get to see real competition with the ever

increasing complexities and complications in it with the passage of time. A variety of problems

have emerged infecting all the individuals, but we have highlighted very few problems often

found in the workplace environment. We have talked about aggression, violence and harassment

in the workplace which are supposed to be the initial causes of crashing of the economies as by

resulting in the negative balance of trade & balance of payments (BOPs), rising of

unemployment and hence increase in inflation rate which has caused the under-developed

economies like Pakistan as to weaken the purchasing power of the individuals of the region.

This is because when the producers (workers) are not considered and their needs are over-looked

so it obviously causes de-motivation in them which results in a decreased output of the

organization (reduction in the output of the economy). Its strictly recommended adopt a kind

attitude with your subordinates if you need to improve the performance of your business, hence

putting on a positive impact on the whole economy. For this, the senior managers of thecompany or organization have to be lenient with their subordinates and should provide them with

(non)monetary benefits, performance based commissions and recognitions and especially the

leisure time to relax themselves which would benefit the organization and later, benefit the

economy. These seem to be very little problems but when they rise at national level, it comes out

as a disaster in the economies. Therefore, we may interpret that for bringing a change in the

society or the economy, we have to bring a change in ourselves by improving our own attitudes.


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REFERENCES:

Carbo, J. A. (2008). The right to dignity at work: Critical management studies and

corporate social responsibility insights into workplace bullying. 70. Available from Oclc

Dissertations database. [3]

Ferris, P., (2004, August 23), 'A preliminary typology of organizational response to

allegations of workplace bullying: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil', British Journal of

Guidance & Counseling, Routledge, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 391-94. [11]

Harvey, M., Tradway, D., Heames, J.T., and Duke, A. (2009). Bullying in the 21st Century

Global Organization: An Ethical Perspective. Journal of Business Ethics 85:27-40. [9]

Larsen, S. E., & Fitzgerald, L. F. (2010). PTSD Symptoms and Sexual Harassment: The

Role of Attributions and Perceived Control. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. [4]

LeBlanc, M.M. and Barling, J. (2004), Workplace Aggression, Current Directions in

Psychological Science, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 9-12 [1]

Vickers, M. H., (2009), 'Bullying, disability and work: A case study of workplace bullying',

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal,

Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Vol. 4 No. 3, 2009, pp. 259-67. [10]

Whitmore, L., Kleiner, B.H. , (1999),"Violence in the workplace", Management Research

News, Vol. 22. Iss: 8 pp. 1217. [14]

Other Sources:

By Stephanie Chen, CNN | August 23, 2010 [6]

http://edition.cnn.com/[7]

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-

bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_prevention[5]

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/preventing-sexual-harassment-workplace-

29851.html[12]

Tips to prevent workplace violence journalstar.com/article_2bda9f46-c734-11df-a54f-

001cc4c002e0.html [13]

Wikipedia (2010), Suicide of Phoebe Prince, [online], Available from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Phoebe_Prince, [Accessed on 26th February, 2012]

[8]
http://edition.cnn.com/http://edition.cnn.com/http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_preventionhttp://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_preventionhttp://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_preventionhttp://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/preventing-sexual-harassment-workplace-29851.htmlhttp://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/preventing-sexual-harassment-workplace-29851.htmlhttp://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/preventing-sexual-harassment-workplace-29851.htmlhttp://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/preventing-sexual-harassment-workplace-29851.htmlhttp://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/preventing-sexual-harassment-workplace-29851.htmlhttp://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_preventionhttp://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/january2011/workplace_violence_preventionhttp://edition.cnn.com/

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