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Deborah Lee: School of Education and Social Science, University of Derby, Derby, UK
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: The author wishes to thank Tony Elger, Carol Wolkowitz, Helge Hoel and the two anonymous referees for helpful comments on this article.
"Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, abuse of power or unfair penal sanctions which makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or vulnerable, which undermines their self-confidence and which may cause them to suffer stress (MSF [working definition of workplace bullying], 1995). [e.g.] Setting objectives with impossible deadlines; removing areas of responsibility and giving people menial or trivial tasks to do instead; taking credit for other people's ideas; ignoring or excluding an individual by talking only to a third party to isolate another; withholding information; spreading malicious rumours; constantly undervaluing effort; persistent criticism (MSF [examples of workplace bullying behaviour], 1994)."
Introduction
How has the concept of "workplace bullying" emerged in the UK and in what ways are men and women workers deploying this new workplace harassment discourse? This article draws upon radio and television programmes, trade union policies and publications, newspaper articles, academic analyses, self-help psychology/social issues literature and qualitative, in-depth interviews which I conducted with bullied men and women in order to explore these research questions.
Methodology
The research from which the article is drawn is a study of men's and women's experiences of workplace bullying and sexual harassment (Lee, 1998). My main data source is 50 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with workers (21 men and 29 women) who have suffered, perpetrated, observed or intervened against these forms of workplace harassment. The interviews took place in 1995. Interviewees were self-selecting, contacted through newspaper articles, trade union newsletters and radio broadcasts. They work in a wide variety of occupations (e.g. teaching, factory work, management and secretarial work). A total of 48 informants were white. Two were black. One interviewee identified himself as gay. No-one mentioned disabilities. Informants' ages ranged from early 20s to late 60s.
Interpreting workplace bullying
The emergence of the term "bullying" in the UK
Before its emergence in the UK, workplace bullying/mobbing was recognised and studied in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Hoel (1997, p. 15), in an analysis of workplace bullying, suggests that interest in workplace bullying in Scandinavia reflects an early recognition of psycho-social...