It is frequently assumed that a poor psychosocial working environment will create conditions that encourage bullying. However, few studies have examined this assumption while comparing work environment ratings of bullied and non-bullied employees who work in the same organization and/or department. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between organizational factors and the incidence of acts of bullying based on two different approaches: the first by comparing bullied with no-bullied, the second by comparing departments with widespread bullying with departments with little bullying. The study was a part of a general survey study of the work environment and employee well-being in 12 different local social security offices.
A total of 898 persons participated in the study (a response rate of 88%). First, the results showed a clear relationship between bullying and fear of organizational change; secondly, weak, but significant, correlations between bullying and other organizational factors; thirdly, the subsequent analyses compared departments in which bullying were most widespread with the rest of the departments. The results supported the hypothesis that departments that suffer from much bullying also have a poorer psychosocial work environment, results that support the assumption that organizational factors such as changes in one’s position, pressure of work, performance demands, autocratic management and role conflict and lack of role clarity, as well as a poor social climate can contribute to the emergence of higher incidences of bullying.
This article examines the challenges of student bullying and sets forth various New York and New Jersey initiatives designed to prevent bullying. School Administrators are encouraged to compare these prevention techniques to their own policies and consider utilizing some of the methods.
On September 27, 2017, an 18-year-old student, Abel Cedeno, stabbed and killed a classmate at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation and seriously injured another. The killing was the first in two decades in a New York City public school. Cedeno’s crimes allegedly stemmed from bullying he endured by two classmates due to his perceived sexual orientation. According to Cedeno, the bullying, which involved homophobic slurs, had been ongoing since the beginning of the school year. Witnesses allege that the two bullies often hit Cedeno during class. Individuals in the community believe that the school was responsible for the incident because it failed to prevent and remedy the bullying Cedeno was exposed to.
STOP BULLYING 