Title

An Investigation of Organizational and Regulatory Discourses of Workplace Bullying

Publication Date

10-1-2015

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Organizations use policies to set standards for employee behaviors. Although many organizations have policies that address workplace bullying, previous studies have found that these policies affect neither workplace bullying for targets who are seeking assistance in ending the behaviors nor managers who must address incidents of bullying. This article presents the findings of a study that used critical discourse analysis to examine the language used in policies written by health care organizations and regulatory agencies to regulate workplace bullying. The findings suggest that the discussion of workplace bullying overlaps with discussions of disruptive behaviors and harassment. This lack of conceptual clarity can create difficulty for managers in identifying, naming, and disciplining incidents of workplace bullying. The documents also primarily discussed workplace bullying as a patient safety concern. This language is in conflict with organizations attending to worker well-being with regard to workplace bullying.

Publication Title

Workplace Health & Safety

Volume

63

Issue

10

First Page

452

Last Page

461

DOI

10.1177/2165079915593030

Publisher Policy

pre-print, post-print

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