NCJ Number
215471
Journal
Risk Management Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2006 Pages: 175-191
Date Published
June 2006
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether worker mistreatment by co-workers was associated with the development of maladaptive coping mechanisms.
Abstract
Results indicate that negative treatment by co-workers in the workplace can lead to maladaptive coping strategies to deal with the resulting stress. Workers subjected to harassment or other negative behaviors due to their education, as well as those subjected to more action-oriented forms of harassment, such as being kept from receiving a raise or being set up for failure were significantly more likely to develop maladaptive passive or aggressive coping strategies. The development of maladaptive or dysfunctional responses to workplace stressors may ultimately pose a security risk to organizations and therefore merit an organizational response. Specific steps organizations can take to increase security are considered and include conducting background checks on employees and developing zero-tolerance policies for threatening or violent behavior at work. The author notes that the probability of experiencing workplace violence has grown over the past decade but still remains relatively low. Data were examined from a previous study in which 327 workers in a corporation in the northeastern United States were interviewed between 1988 and 1991. Employment records of the randomly selected workers were examined for information on their co-workers and efforts were made to interview the primary subject as well as his or her co-workers. Interviews focused on the influence of conflict, prejudice, and ethnic violence on workplace stress, health, and well-being as well as on the quality of interpersonal relationships. Interviews were coded and data were analyzed using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses. Tables, references, appendix