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This book moves beyond established narratives shaping responses to psychological injury arising from abuse in the workplace and opens up a debate for a different approach to understanding and responding to the problem of victimisation at work.
List of contents
Introduction (Emily Schindeler, Janet Ransley and Danielle Reynald)
Part I: The Problem: Conceptualising and Measuring
1. Conceptualising Violence: A problem of definition (Emily Schindeler)
2. Prevalence – What to Count, How and the Influence of Narrative (Emily Schindeler)
Part II: The Problem: Understanding the Context
3. Understanding who creates the risk and how (Emily Schindeler)
4. Reframing the Problem: Socialisation, Neutralisation and Normalisation (Emily Schindeler)
5. Situating the Legal Frameworks (Janet Ransley)
Part III: The Problem: Why We Need New Directions
6. The Conundrum of Bystanders to Psychological Abuse in the Workplace: From Passive Accomplices to Active Controllers (Danielle Reynald)
7. No Quick Fix – The Challenge of Prevention and Intervention (Emily Schindeler)
8. Conclusion: Where to From Here (Emily Schindeler, Janet Ransley and Danielle Reynald)
About the author
Emily Schindeler is an adjunct research fellow with the Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Australia.
Janet Ransley is a professor with the Griffith Criminology Institute and School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University, Australia.
Danielle Reynald is a senior lecturer with the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University, Australia.
Summary
Violence is defined by the World Health Organisation as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, or psychological harm. But while physical violence is seen as unacceptable, why is psychological violence still treated as a secondary concern?
This timely book challenges the way harm and violence in the workplace have been conceptualised, translated into law and presented in organisational and management discourse. The authors argue that addressing psychological violence warrants a fresh approach that acknowledges the limits of current thinking and that centres on protecting the values of ethical practice and the people who contribute to organisations, productivity, and the community.
Psychological Violence in the Workplace challenges the status quo and advocates a new approach for understanding and responding to the problem of victimisation at work. This book will be of interest to academics and practitioners in the fields of criminology, victimology, law, human resource management, and workplace health and safety.
Additional text
"I have been longing for this very important book. Even if Psychological Violence in the Workplace builds on classical work in criminology, both in theory and in method, it is more than an important contribution to scholars in criminology. It is also a major work of an analysis of a public health problem which deserves to be read more widely by psychologist, sociologist, behaviorist, governmental or business sector.
"It is an exciting, stimulating and touching text which begins to fill a vacuum by challenging the way in which the dominant narrative has shaped and diminished the import of psychological violence. It is brilliantly conceptualized about violence as a social problem which mutates - reflecting changes in community, cultural and social values and norms. The book makes explicit the controversies and the contradictions which obscures the level on injury and underpins the inadequate efforts to prevent the everyday nature of the violence. It is of great concern - to all of us. "
Sofia Wikman, PhD, researcher in workplace violence, Department of Criminology, Stockholm University, Sweden
