Answer to Question #305490 in English for Thando

Question

The Perpetrators of Workplace Bullying in Schools: A South African Study  Corene De Wet and Lynette Jacobs (2014) .summarise the purpose of the text

Answer 1

Since the ground-breaking study by Leymann (1996), workplace bullying (WPB) has begun to receive more attention and ecognition as an important social and organizational problem (Moreno-Jiménez, Muoz, Salin & Benadero, 2008). Research has established that WPB is a fairly common phenomenon (Agervold, 2007; Parzefall & Salin, 2010; Samnani,2011).

& Singh, 2012), that can result in complications for employees, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and

Braithwaite, Ahmed & Braithwaite, 2008; Leymann, 1996). WPB not only affects mental and physical health.

but also has cost-implications for the organization, such as complaints resulting in lawsuits, absenteeism, staff

Conflict, impaired job performance, and high staff turnover (Braithwaite et al., 2008; Moreno-Jiménez et al., 2008). WPB involves persistent, offensive, abusive, and/or intimidating behavior that makes the target feel threatened.

Branch, 2008; Branch, Ramsay & Barker, 2013; Hauge, Skogstad & Peterson,

Einarsen, 2007). A power imbalance between the victim and the perpetrator is regarded as a core characteristic of bullying (Branch, 2008; Samnani & Singh, 2012). This power can take a number of forms (e.g., physical) and is not limited. to hierarchical power (Samnani & Singh, 2012). An important difference between "normal" conflict and bullying is not what Agervold, 2007; Branch, 2008; Leymann, 1996). Bullying is not an either-or phenomenon, but a gradually evolving process (Einarsen, 1999).

A wide variety of negative acts that may constitute WPB have been identified by researchers (cf. Agervold, 2007; Cunniff & Mostert, 2012; Einarsen, 1999). WPB surveys typically include 22 to 45 items on different negative acts.

Agervold, 2007). The questionnaire used in this study included 43 negative acts. These acts are often categorized. Zapf (1999) categorised five types of WPB: Work-related bullying, which may include changing the victim’s work tasks or making them difficult to perform; social isolation; personal attacks or attacks on the victim’s private life by ridicule, insulting remarks, gossip or the like; verbal threats where the victim is criticised, yelled at or humiliated in public; and physical violence or threats of such violence. In an attempt to explain WPB and to look for ways to address this problem, researchers have examined the Shallcross, Sheehan & Ramsay, 2008; Zapf, 1999) and perpetrators (Braithwaite et al., 2008;

Glas, Nielsen & Einarsen, 2009), along with the work environment (De Wet, 2010; Zapf, 1999).