A systematic review of psychological harassment in the workplace: comparing current trends in Canada to Europe

Psychological harassment in the workplace comes in a number of forms, from sexual harassment to workplace bullying. No matter what the situation in which these destructive actions are manifested, it is always based on an instigators need for power and control (Lockwood, Rosenthal & Budjnaovcanin, 2011) and the results are often catastrophic for a victim’s emotional, physical, and professional life (Chan, Lam, Chow & Cheung, 2008). This Systematic Review that was carried out had originally intended to illustrate the possible gap between Canada and Europe in the areas of legislation and policy creation and implementation at an organizational level. The goal was also to attempt to try and uncover any overarching themes and trends about the victims of psychological harassment and their work environments. What was uncovered in this process was that the complexity and impact of harassment is continually being revealed (Vijayasiri, 2008). Current harassment policy is based on a framework that is able to identify and deal with clear cut and severe cases, but as our understanding of the nature of these incidents deepens, we may question how effective of a job is really being done. With that being the case, the findings based on the current literature suggest that the creation and implementation of effective policy are often slow and problematic for many organizations. This Systematic Review has revealed three main themes prevalent in the literature, including: 1) Challenges in Legislation & Policy- insights and suggestions around revising policy frameworks and the benefits of a proactive approach via workplace culture; 2) Workplace harassment’s growing complexity- developments providing a deeper understanding around how the victims and bystanders perceptions of a situation can come into play, as well a new understanding of variables that may not have been considered previously; 3) Extent of damage to individuals and the workplace- effects of harassment on the bullied/non-victim and/or harassment bystander as well as the corruption that harassment has to the internal workings of an organization in areas such as culture and operations. As the topic of psychological harassment in the workplace continues to grow each day, it is hoped that these findings will serve to inform researchers, practitioners, legal representatives, unions and human resource professionals, to name a few, and offer a point of departure for future research considerations and areas of study, as well as offer opportunities for internal policy creation for organizations