Wednesday 4 September 2013

Minority Status and Bullying

Bullying is a major concern and can lead to long-term behavioural, emotional and physical adjustment problems (Hamburger et al., 2011). Being exposed to bullying at work is a significant source of social stress and might lead to psychiatric problems in victims (Einarsen et al., 2002). While, theoretically, every individual can become a victim, some people seem to be more likely to be targeted.

 

A study carried out among employees of the National Health Service came to the conclusion that the minority ethnic staff had disproportionate experiences of bullying and harassment (Bécares, 2009). Males with gender minority status are more likely to be bullied, too (Wang, 2012). Age also seems to correlate with bullying as e.g. research in Norway shows that particularly older employees feel affected by bullying (Einarsen et al., n.y.). And, people with a disability are at higher risk of being victimised (Sin et al., 2009).

 

In other words, being a member of a minority group increases the likelihood of being bullied. In case of intersection, i.e. the individual belongs to more than one minority group (e.g. the person is of a different ethnicity than the majority plus queer), the likelihood of being bullied might rise. For instance, if one is already being bullied for being a sexual minority, then the additional membership of an ethnic or a religious minority group increases the odds of being bullied even more. According to a study, as people move to one additional minority group membership, they are 22 times more likely to be bullied because of their sexual orientation, when they move to two additional minority groups, the likelihood increases 37-fold, and in the case of three minority groups it increases 167-fold (Rivera, 2011).

 

Bécares, L. (2009) Experiences of bullying and racial harassment among minority ethnic staff in the NHS. A Race Equality Foundation Briefing Paper
Einarsen, S., Hoel, H. & Nielsen, M. B. (n.y.) Workplace Bullying (via)
Einarsen, S., Mikkelsen, E. G. & Matthiesen, S. B. (2002) The psychology of bullying at work: Explaining the detrimental effects on victims (via)
Hamburger, M. E, BAsile, K. C. & Vivolo, A. M. (2011) Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Rivera, L. K. (2011) Bullying of sexual minorities: How does multiple minority status affect the likelihood of being victimized? Master Thesis: Kaplan University
Sin, C. H., Hedges, A., Cook, C., Mguni, N. & Comber, N. (2009) Disabled people's experiences of targeted violence and hostility. Manchester: Research Team - Equality and Human Rights Commission
Wang, M.-L. (2012) Gender Differences Are Predictors of Workplace Bullying. Conference on Arts and Humanities 2012 Conference Proceedings
(photos via and via)

19 comments:

  1. I guess I said this already, the photos here always work so well with your thoughts ... it's hard to narrow down the choice, isn't it? Anyways, many thanks for keeping us posted, Laura.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind feedback. Yes, sometimes it is really quite a challenge. I find it much easier to narrow down the "written part" than the "picture part", probably because I'm more used to working with texts and do not really have blog experience (having started just two months ago). You have no idea how much I appreciate your comments; thanks again.

      Delete
  2. Absolutely. It's pretty hard to find good material but then it's much harder to narrow down the choice. Thanks for all the effort and hard work you've put into this very weblog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... and big thanks to you, too, Derek. In fact, finding good material is fun but at times more difficult than I would think. Sometimes I have a rather clear picture in mind and then it is a surprise if something close to it does or does not exist. For my next post, for instance, I thought Steve McQueen with a book could look nice ... well, Steve McQueen definitely looks good reading ;-) but it was'nt quite what I was looking for. All the effort, as you kindly put it, is worth it knowing that there are people who visit this blog. And your comments are highly motivating ;-)

      Delete
  3. Lovely photos, great find indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Indeed, thank you, again!

    ReplyDelete
  5. :-) nice pics!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Replies
    1. Thank you, Sam. It's amazing how many photographs there are of boxing women in the 1930s...

      Delete
  7. The first photograph is my favourite, beautifully set up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is also my favourite one. Thank you for your feedback, Erin.

      Delete
  8. What a beautiful blog you have!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much for your beautiful feedback!

      Delete
  9. This blog has a heartbeat to it. One can hear it :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a sweet comment. Thank you, Abbie.
      ... and thank you, Derek.

      Delete