Every workplace has a unique environment for their employees to feel comfortable, so they are effective and efficient in their duties. Unfortunately, some workplace environments, including police organizations, have allowed and created hostility that will affect the employee’s performance. Common terms including bullying, psychological harassment, psychological violence, and emotional abuse are becoming far too familiar in workplace environments (Workplace Bullying Institute, 2015). The effects of workplace bullying can lead to a multitude of problems for the police organization as well as the individual (Randall, 2001). Workplace bullying will directly impact the productivity, health, and morale of police officers (Workplace Bullying Institute, …show more content…
If there is a decrease in productivity, then employers must determine what the causes of that decrease. When an employee feels like they are being harassed or bullied by a coworker, or supervisor then typically organizations will see a decrease in productivity (Randall, 2001). Unfortunately, police organizations may never realize that the decrease in productivity is a direct result of workplace bullying. Police officers will typically not report incidents of discrimination or workplace bullying for fear retaliation, or being labeled by their peers for reporting such incidents. Ultimately, police officers are evaluated on their productivity to include monthly, quarterly, and yearly evaluations. Supervisors of police organizations may not be able to determine the root cause of a decrease in productivity if the employee does not report that they are being bullied by a coworker or supervisor. Furthermore, police officers are expected to have thicker skin, and not be affected by actions or words of others. Supervisors played an important role on the organizational standards of a police organization, and must enforce policy violations. Unfortunately, if a police supervisor is unaware of what is occurring than it is extremely difficult for them to enforce policy violations. Victims of workplace bullying in police organizations must report the bully so that police supervisors can enforce the …show more content…
Police officers are expected to deal with problems that most people are unwilling to deal with themselves. As a private citizen people expect police officers to perform at the highest standard at all times, and especially when they are in a time of need. Police officers who are experienced workplace bullying will typically resort to unhealthy actions and behaviors (Samnani, 2013). Some of those behaviors can possibly turn into addictions to include gambling, drinking, and unhealthy eating habits (Conroy, 2014). The direct result of these behaviors can result in serious medical problems to include diabetes, stress, anxiety, depression, and cardiac issues (Workplace Bullying Institute, 2015). Victims of workplace bullying use these unhealthy behaviors to remove themselves from reality, and live in a fantasy world where their problems do not exist (Conroy, 2014). Ultimately, workplace bullying in police organizations can leave the victim with no other alternative than suicide (Conroy, 2014). In order to avoid these serious consequences of workplace bullying in police organizations it is crucial that the victim reports of violations immediately, and then follows up with their supervisor to confirm that it is being
Bullying is found in the workplace as well. Types of workplace bullying can include: threat to professional status, threat to personal standing, isolation, overwork, and destabilisation. Questionnaires were sent to 1,580 National Health Service community trust employees and 1,100 completed surveys were recorded. Out of these, 294 employees (27%) reported being destabilised and 255 (23%) reported being isolated in the workplace (Quine 230). Destabilisation in the workplace often entails giving an employee meaningless tasks or not giving them the credit for what they have done. Withholding training or special opportunities away from an employee are types of isolationism. While being destabilised and isolated are both passive acts, they are forms of bullying. Even though bullying is considered a childish act, it occurs in adulthood, and that is
Bullying in the workplace has always been an issue that has not been given much importance. It is indeed a problem that should be addressed by the concerned personnel because it can result in many health and safety issues, especially when nurses are bullied at their workplace. From the beginning of times, people who are deployed at a senior post to tend to look down upon the students or new people who have just started work. Nursing is also one of the professions in which the fresh graduates or students are bullied to the extent that they feel that they would not be able to face their seniors. They start developing inferiority complex and are unable to perform their job well. When they are taunted by their seniors and preceptors about their lack of knowledge and experience, their confidence is shattered. This implies that when they are handling a case, they are not confident if they are doing the right thing or not. In this tussle, they sometimes do not even perform the task they were really good at and put the health and safety of the patient at stake.
Bullying can produce and maintain a poisonous work environment. Nurses who bully can wear down the job satisfaction of their co workers which can result in a loss of productivity and increased absences in the workplace (Stokowski, 2010). Victims of bullying often have a feeling of impending doom and dread when they think about their upcoming work days. Each time the bullying reoccurs, the victims usually
Bullying and harassment within the workplace can be attributed to a myriad of factors. The work
Although, racial profiling has been practiced for many years, it is now becoming more popular and a serious problem for today’s society and law enforcement. Depending on the treatment of the organization and its management staff to all of its employees will dictate a positive or negative working environment. In the past, most studies viewed the problem of misconduct as one of the individual problem officers, the so-called bad apples on the force (National Institute of Justice, 2016). The police officers training is very important and must be effective and efficient because police officers rely heavily on their training for judgment and decision-making that has to be swift and smart. Despite training to avoid discrimination, officers may still rely on cultural stereotypes and act on their perceptions of a person's characteristics (such as age, race or gender) (National Institute of Justice, 2013).
The article provide five table illustrations. Table one is about the demographic characteristic of the targets of the workplace bullies. The table displays the characteristics of social workers ranging by age, gender, and demographic. Table two is about organizational settings and roles of targets. The table displayed supervisors, colleagues, subordinates, and clients were all identified as bullies. It showed that women were more than twice as likely (67%) to be identified as bullies as were men (33%). Table three is about the most troubling bullying behaviors. It showed that verbally and covertly hostile actions were the most troubling bullying behaviors in the workplace. In addition, being treated with disrespect and having work de-valued as the hardest aspects of being bullied at the workplace. Table four was the summary characteristics of bullies. The study showed the characteristic were either passive or assertive by the Coping Scale. The passive behavior had a ranging score of 24 and assertive was of 60. The median and mean scores were 42.5, and a multiple modal score. Table five was the classification of responses to coping scale as passive or assertive
Bullying which is the intentional act to inflict harm, threaten or abuse of others, can range in many ways. Kathryn Hawkins on the article the Office Bully, outlines various issues of this concept. Kathryn states that sometimes people become overconfidence that they left bullies in their past lives maybe high school, but later found out the bullies have ultimately become their bosses. Secondly, bullying may occur when bullies wants to dominate and gain back their powers if they feel endangered. So they tend to overcome their fear by threatening others. Also Kathryn articulates that even the conditions of the workplace can cause bullies to abuse their targets and workplace bully can be difficult to deal with. Although Kathryn has suggested some solutions about these issues, the claim presented does not put up with the issues, rather an encouragement.
Cleary, M., Hunt, G. E., Walter, G., & Robertson, M. (2009). Dealing with bullying in the workplace. Journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services, 47(12), 34-41. doi:10.3928/02793695-20091103-03
Chapter 11 and focusing on the stress that each police officer is enduring while on duty and how it affects their personal life during and after their police career. There are multiple different tables and figures in Chapter 11. The first Figure is listed on page 380, talks about quid pro quo harassment. That usually occurs in a workplace and involved sexual act. When one individual is forced to engage into sexual contact in fear of losing their job or other consequences. Figure 11.2 on page 381 discusses hostile work environment. Hostile environment can be created by multiple different behavior like sexual advances, unwelcome attitude, and harassment. Often in a hostile situation, employees feel offended and most events continue to reoccur on daily basis. Figure 11.3 explains that Attorney General Reno has made hostile situations in workplace illegal and anyone who is subject to hostile situation at work, should report it. Figure 11.4 showed a response letter from Governor Carlie Chris to a community in Miami. The community felt that the police officers who lives in their community and parked his vehicle in the driveway, doesn’t comply with their homeowner association which states that none of the owner’s commercial vehicles should be parks in the driveway. However governor explained the community that the police officer cars are not commercial vehicles. Figure 11.5 and figure 11.6 stating that police officers have rights for their information, like pictures, address,
Bullying and incivility causes an unhealthy work environment, which affects the staff, patients, and the organization. Some of the effects on staff include burnout, anxiety, depression, increased absenteeism, poor communication, decreased moral, decreased job satisfaction,
It goes without saying that police officers have one of the most difficult jobs on the face of the planet. To begin with, when a uniformed officer leaves his or her home each morning or evening to go to work, they can never be fully confident that they will return home. The threat of death while on the job is constant, and while danger is always looming, the day-to-day tasks of the job can often be tedious and boring. In addition to the inherent danger and tedium in a police officer’s job, police officers must also contend with a lack of respect from the general public, which has greatly increased since highly visible events in Ferguson, Missouri and in Baltimore, Maryland. With this constant on-the-job stress, and disrespect and combativeness
Psychological theories contending that some officers are incline to utilize violence when confronted with aggressive and oppositional behavior
Employees should have the right to feel safe in their work environment and to be free from workplace bullying. Employers need to be held accountable and have a plan in place to protect the employees from this type of violence. Barbara McCulloch is a mediator who has developed a process of mediation to address the complicated issues of bullying behavior in the workplace (McCulloch, 2010). Barbara suggests that
Heeman, V. (2007). Workplace Bullying: A Distinct, Interpersonal, and Communicative Phenomenon. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association.
Friederich Nietzsche wrote, “Whoever fights monsters should seek to it that in the process he does not become a monster”. This aptly applies to police officers who face unexpected and potentially dangerous situations every day. Police officers are confronted with destructive and negative behavior on a regular basis. Law enforcement is one of the most stressful and demanding professions in the United States. Characteristics of police work are stressful because a situation can change at any time. An FBI report shows that approximately twelve out of every one hundred or 60,000 police officers are assaulted each year (Stevens, p. 587). Combined with many other factors,