Bullying behind bars: a preliminary study of human resources professionals and workplace bullying in corrections
| Published date | 11 April 2016 |
| Date | 11 April 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-06-2015-0175 |
| Pages | 137-146 |
| Author | Matthew E. Ritzman |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression, conflict & peace |
Bullying behind bars: a preliminary study
of human resources professionals and
workplace bullying in corrections
Matthew E. Ritzman
Matthew E. Ritzman is Doctoral
Candidate at The University of
Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of workplace bullying reported to
human resources (HR) professionals in corrections. It compared the prevalence of bullying reported
to HR professionals to the prevalence of self-reported workplace bullying found in the study by Einarsen
et al. (2009).
Design/methodology/approach –In total, 75 HR professionals completed the modified version of the
Negative Acts Questionnaire –Revised (The Bergen Bullying Research Group, 2009) that consists of three
subscales measuring work-related bullying, person-related bullying, and physically intimidating bullying.
Participants indicated how often certain types of workplace bullying were reported to them. The prevalence of
bullying reported to HR professionals was then compared to the prevalence of self-reported workplace
bullying found in the comparison study.
Findings –The findings of the study were statistically significant and demonstrated that more workplace
bullying was reported to HR professionals in corrections than was self-reported in the comparison study.
The results show statistical significance in the scale as a whole, in the person-related bullying subscale,
and in the physical intimidation subscale.
Practical implications –HR professionals might be more likely to accurately report workplace bullying
behavior that has been reported to them, as opposed to employees who directly experienced bullying.
Organizations might benefit from having designated HR professionals or some other types of independent
services for reporting of workplace bullying
Originality/value –A significant amount of workplace bullying research has focussed on causes,
symptoms, and consequences of the phenomenon that can be generalized across a variety of occupations.
This general research has advanced understanding of the topic. However, there are limitations to this
approach. Generalized literature should also be complemented by research considering factors, issues, and
concerns specific to particular working environments to develop more meaningful knowledge. To this end,
this research focussed on workplace bullying in corrections organizations.
Keywords Systems theory, Prison, Human resources, Corrections, Workplace bullying,
Human performance technology
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Workplace bullying has been found to be a significant problem which has a negative impact on
employeesand organizations. It has been suggestedthat human resources (HR) professionalsare
important employees in addressing workplace bullying (Boyd and Carden, 2010; Glendinning,
2001; Lewis and Rayner,2003; Mathieson et al., 2006; Namieand Namie, 2003; Salin, 2008) and
that they might have far-reaching involvement in bullying situations (Boyd and Carden, 2010;
Received 19 June 2015
Revised 8 September 2015
12 October 2015
23 October 2015
1 November 2015
3 November 2015
Accepted 19 November 2015
DOI 10.1108/JACPR-06-2015-0175 VOL. 8 NO. 2 2016, pp.137-146, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599
j
JOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH
j
PAGE137
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