WATER SMOOTHING STONES: SUBORDINATE RESISTANCE TO WORKPLACE BULLYING by Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY August 2005 WATER SMOOTHING STONES: SUBORDINATE RESISTANCE TO WORKPLACE BULLYING by Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik has been approved May 2005 APPROVED: , Chair Supervisory Committee ACCEPTED: Director of the School Dean, Division of Graduate Studies ABSTRACT Adult bullying at work is a shocking, unbelievable, and, at times, shattering experience both for those targeted and for witnessing colleagues. Although extant literature characterizes bullying targets as unable to defend themselves, this depiction is limited, simplistic, and one-dimensional. This study examines the narratives of 30 workers, some of whom where targeted and all of whom saw others bullied by persons with more organizational authority. Their responses paint a complex picture of power in bullying situations—a picture that reframes the “power-deficient target” into agents who galvanize a variety of resources on their own or others’ behalf. In some cases, employees took stock of the situation, decided they would be no part of the abusive workgroup, and resigned. Others initially protested but eventually washed their hands of the situation and took their talents elsewhere. On the other hand, there were cases where bullies were fired, transferred, quit, or failed to secure a coveted promotion due, in part, to employee resistance. When workers protested collectively, they were less likely to be fired and bullies more likely to be negatively sanctioned. Employees accessed a multiplicity of resistance strategies including exodus, collective voice, reverse discourses, subversive (dis)obedience, and direct confrontation. Most opposition occurred in hidden peer transcripts and only on rare occasions emerged into the public transcript. A liminal space for resistance, connecting hidden and public spaces, emerged in their stories. In this liminal, threshold transcript, employees gathered resources and support, bolstered arguments, and firmed up expert (legal, medical, professional) discourses for their defense. These employees wanted organizational decision makers to take action and stop the bullying. In some cases, subordinate resistance did move decision makers to action. iii Bottom-up change was protracted and corrosive in nature—a pattern only discernable over time through multiple follow-up contacts. The eroding nature of change provided the basis for a conceptual model of bottom-up bully removal starting with individual action and progressing to upper-management interventions. The study suggests a number of implications for theory, methods, and practice. The narratives also open up new avenues for future U.S. bullying research. iv This work is dedicated to Elden Sandvik. who saw in me an ability I had yet to recognize: The wind beneath my wings. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people contribute to the writing of a doctoral dissertation, not the least of whom provide support and encouragement behind-the-scenes. However, first and foremost, I thank the brave souls who agreed to speak with me and share their stories of pain and suffering at the hands of workplace bullies. Without these people, whom I consider co-researchers on this project, the end product would be but a dream. I recognize the courage it took to talk to me and have their stories, albeit disguised, in a published format. I also want to acknowledge Cliff Scott, Karen Myers, and Carol Lynn Bower— three colleagues who were steadfast, loyal and true at every turn. These people were my confidantes and bolstered me through the extremely tough patches when writing this felt overwhelming. Of course, I am deeply grateful for the three gifted, insightful women who served as my doctoral committee: Dr. Sarah J. Tracy, Dr. Angela Trethewey, and Dr. Nancy Jurik. Special thanks go to Dr. Tracy for hours and hours of editing and sharpening of this transcript. Finally, I wish to acknowledge others for special issues about which they will understand when reading these lines. Thank you Dr. Belle Edson for everything. You know what I mean. Thank you Dr. Kelly McDonald for providing an excellent professor-student experience. Thank you also Dr. Robert McPhee and Dr. Steven Corman for exposing me to your unique perspectives of organizational communication. I also wish to thank Andrea Lewis who was, at one moment in time, a guardian angel. Finally, thanks to all the undergraduate students who made my ASU experience fun! I learned as much about the communication field from you as I did in graduate courses. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES..................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 1 Who, What, When, Where, How............................................................. 3 Who: Current Focus of Analysis in Bullying Research..................... 3 What: Bullying as Individual or Dyadic ............................................ 5 When: The Point at Which Researchers Examine Bullying .............. 6 Where: Bullying Research in the United States................................. 7 How: Methods and Academic Fields in Bullying Research .............. 9 Research Agenda ..................................................................................... 12 2 WORKPLACE BULLYING FEATURES, FORMS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS........................................................... 15 Communicative Issues............................................................................. 17 Denotative Hesitancy......................................................................... 20 Workplace Bullying as a Unique Phenomenon ....................................... 21 Features and Forms of Bullying......................................................... 21 Bullying Descriptive Features...................................................... 22 Repetition............................................................................... 22 Duration ................................................................................. 23 vii CHAPTER Page Escalation............................................................................... 25 Harm ...................................................................................... 26 Intent and Motivation............................................................. 28 Hostile Work Environment.................................................... 30 Power Disparity..................................................................... 30 Bullying Contextualizing Features.............................................. 31 Bullying Forms (Negative Acts).................................................. 35 Negative Acts (NAQ)............................................................ 39 Etiological Classifications..................................................... 39 Topical Classifications........................................................... 44 Power Representations in Bullying Literature......................................... 48 Organizational Factors and Bullying....................................................... 51 3 THEORIES AND STUDIES OF POWER-RESISTANCE .......................... 54 Resistance: Serendipitous Subject of Study................................................... 54 Bullying-Affected Workers, Power, and Resistance ..................................... 55 Theories of Power and Resistance ................................................................. 57 Rationalization and Bureaucratically-Embedded Power......................... 58 Power, Resistance and the Ethical Subject .............................................. 62 Rules and Discursive Formations ...................................................... 62 Power and Resistance as Contemporaries.......................................... 63 Ideal Ethical Subjects and Resistance................................................ 66 viii CHAPTER Page Agency, Dialectic of Control, and Fateful Moments............................... 68 Human Agency, Power, and Resistance............................................ 68 Dialectic of Control............................................................................ 70 Fateful Moments ................................................................................ 71 Resistance and Hidden Transcripts.......................................................... 74 A Dialectic Perspective of Power in Workplace Bullying............................. 80 Micro-Practices of Resistance........................................................................ 82 Resistance Strategies................................................................................ 83 Workplace Bullying and Resistance ........................................................ 88 Research Questions.................................................................................. 89 CHAPTER 4 METHODS ......................................................................................... 90 Epistemological Underpinnings..................................................................... 90 Participants .......................................................................................... 95 Sample Characteristics