Evidence exists that the NHS has had, over many years, persistent problems of negative and intimidating behaviour towards staff from other employees in the NHS. The evidence also suggests the responses to this behaviour can be inadequate. Pope and Burnes (2013) model of organisational dysfunction is used to investigate and explain these findings. A qualitative approach was taken to research the organisational responses to negative behaviour, and the reasons and motivations for those responses. Forty three interviews and six focus groups were conducted. The Framework Method of thematic analysis was chosen for the main analysis and fourteen Framework Themes were identified. ‘3 word summaries’ of the culture were analysed. Further analysis was undertaken of words relating to fear, rationalisations/justifications, what people don’t want to do, the culture, and assumptions/beliefs. The model of organisational dysfunction has been extended. The findings show that participants consider the NHS to be a politically driven, “top down”, “command and control”, hierarchical organisation; a vast, enclosed, bureaucratic machine/system under great pressure. They believe there is a culture of elitism, fear, blame, bullying and a lack of accountability; a culture where power, self-interest and status matters. There is constant change. Saving money and achieving targets are seen to be the priority. A lack of care and humanity is described and negative behaviour seems to have become tolerated and normalised. Bullying is mentioned many times, and viewed as “rife” and “endemic”. Good practice/behaviour can be punished, and bad rewarded, as can failure. Corrupt and unethical behaviour is identified as are totalitarian and Kafkaesque characteristics. Participants describe resistance to voicing concerns and any information which puts individuals or organisations into a ‘negative light’. Employees who raise concerns can be victimised. The “top-down bullying culture … suppresses constructive dissent”. There can be rhetoric, “empty words” and “spin”, rather than reality. A desire for “good news” and the rejection and hiding of “bad news” is described. There seem to be “islands” and “pockets” with a positive culture, however, the generalised evidence suggests the NHS is systemically and institutionally deaf, bullying, defensive and dishonest, exhibiting a resistance to ‘knowing’, denial and “wilful blindness”; a dysfunctional, perverse and troubled organisation. The NHS could also be described as a coercive bureaucracy and under certain definitions, a corrupt entity. The NHS appears to be an organisation with a heart of darkness; a “self perpetuating dysfunctional system”. There may be widespread “learned helplessness”. Overall, the needs of the NHS and the protection of image appear more important than the welfare of staff or patients. It does seem to be a “good news factory”. The NHS appears to have “lost its way” and its focus/purpose as an institution. The dysfunctional organisational behaviours manifest in the NHS need to be addressed urgently as there is a detrimental, sometimes devastating, impact on the wellbeing of both staff and patients. The NHS needs to embrace an identity of being a listening, learning and honest organisation, with a culture of respect.

Over the past forty years the topic of bullying has generated considerable research interest. Schools spend a large amount of their budgets on interventions designed to reduce the incidence of bullying and to promote prosocial behaviours (Viding, McCrory, Blakemore and Frederickson, 2011). Nationwide initiatives such as the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) curriculum (DfE, 2005) have been widely implemented across schools in the United Kingdom with a view to increasing social and emotional competence and reducing bullying. Despite this, bullying remains a prominent concern and anti-bullying interventions do not always seem to lead to a significant decrease in bullying behaviour (Salmivalli, Kaukiainen & Voeten, 2005). Although much of the bullying research has focused primarily on bullies and victims it seems more widely accepted now that bullying is a group process which happens within a social context. More recent studies have looked at the other roles that children can adopt in a bullying situation such as defender, reinforcer, assistant and outsider (Salmivalli, 1996), however research in this areas is relatively limited to date. Existing research is largely quantitative in design and is considerably reliant on fixed response questionnaires. The current study looks at defending in particular and explores the factors associated with children’s expressed intentions to defend. Due to complexities involved in operationalising bullying as a construct, the focus of this study is on unkind behaviour rather than bullying. A mixed methods approach is used incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. 113 upper Key Stage 2 children (66 boys and 47 girls) from two schools in the south east of England completed questionnaires designed to assess behavioural tendencies in relation to unkindness, friendship quality, social group structure and attitudes towards unkind behaviour. Paired interviews were conducted with 32 children (17 girls and 15 boys). Correlation, regression and thematic analyses were used to explore factors seemingly associated with defending. Results are discussed in light of existing literature on defending along with implications for the professional practice of Educational Psychologists (EPs).

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding about the experiences of a group of Pakistani young people in a primary school. The literature revealed that there are significant differences between different ethnic groups in terms of attainment levels, social background and levels of special educational need. My aim was to include, specifically, the voice of Pakistani young people and their experience of school. I am approaching this research from a feminist perspective with the aim of uncovering marginalized voices and hidden experiences. In view of previous research which has focussed on the experience of school: my research question is: How do Pakistani young people interpret their experiences of school? I carried out semi-structured interviews with six primary school pupils from Pakistani backgrounds from year six, aged between 10 to 11 years old from the same school. The epistemology underpinning the research is critical realism, which emphasises the personal and social contexts within which people experience what is “real”. I analysed the narratives from these interviews using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). IPA is an interpretative, idiographic approach to methodology which is used to generate super-ordinate and sub-ordinate themes. The analysis found seven super-ordinate themes: the emotional experience of learning, the cultural impact of the school curriculum, the importance of enduring friendships, the impact of the segregation between communities, the impact of gendered power struggles, the impact of bullying and the impact of cultural identity. The possible implications for school staff focused on understanding the benefits of the curriculum, the cultural differences experienced in the school, ethos and anti-racist/sexist programmes. For Educational Psychologists, implications focused on awareness-raising and work with young people from different communities. Recommendations for future research are also discussed including the usefulness of IPA for drawing out rich and detailed narratives providing depth in the analysis.

The phenomenon of bullying and, more recently, cyberbullying, continue to be of interest to scholars, practitioners and policy makers. To date, the vast majority of research into bullying and cyberbullying has been contained to compulsory education contexts, leaving a dearth of literature in post-compulsory education. This thesis explores cyberbullying in the context of post-16 education in England, considering, in particular, four research questions relating to prevalence, involvement of particular groups, reasons for cyberbullying, and consequences on feelings, learning, and social integration. Previous research on cyberbullying is considered, including a discussion of the definition and criteria of both bullying and cyberbullying. The main contributions to knowledge are the age group and context of this research, the use of phenomenology as a philosophical framework in the research design, data collection, and analysis, and how attribution theory is related to the reasons given for cyberbullying others and being cyberbullied. A mixed methods survey methodology was used to collect data; an online questionnaire was used to collect data from 5,690 students from 41 colleges, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect in-depth data from six victims of cyberbullying. In terms of prevalence, 7.9% of those aged 16–19 years old who study in colleges in England reported being victims of cyberbullying and 1.9% admitted to cyberbullying others. The findings also show certain demographic groups statistically more likely to be disproportionately involved as cyberbullies, such as boys and those who were offline victims at school, and as cybervictims, such as girls and those who had a physical disability. A range of reasons were reported for cyberbullying others, in particular the victim’s intelligence/ability and because of feelings of anger, and for being cyberbullied, in particular because of their physical appearance and friendship groups. Various consequences for being a cybervictim were revealed, in particular on the way they felt and on their mental health/wellbeing.

The impressive growth of antidiscrimination law in liberal democracies in the past few decades belies the inadequacy of the normative bases on which it has been sought to be justified. Popular ideals such as rationality, equality and dignity have been unsuccessful in providing a coherent liberal framework for the fundamental aspects of the practice of antidiscrimination law. In this thesis, I have argued that a unified normative framework comprising autonomy and dignity-as-autonomy does a markedly better job of justifying the most fundamental aspects of these laws. The ideal of personal autonomy is understood here as a principle that seeks to guarantee an adequate range of valuable options to individuals. Dignity-as-autonomy is understood to be an expressive norm, which forbids certain persons from expressing contempt for the autonomy of another. These ideals have different forms: autonomy is a non-action-regarding principle, while dignity-as-autonomy is action-regarding. They are also distinct substantively: it is often possible to violate one of them without affecting the other. When these ideals make incompatible demands, I argue that those made by autonomy should prevail. Mandating positive action and reasonable accommodation on the one hand, and prohibiting indirect discrimination and harassment on the other, are essential features of a model of antidiscrimination law based on this framework. Further, under this framework, antidiscrimination law is not vulnerable to objections such as ‘levelling down’ and responds well to claims of discrimination on ‘intersectional grounds’. Furthermore, it is not essential to find an ‘appropriate comparator’ in order to prove discrimination. This model also explains when, and under what conditions, can some forms of discrimination be ‘justified’. Finally, on an autonomy-based model, antidiscrimination law is only one of several complementary tools that should be employed to protect and promote personal autonomy.

Being the victim of bullying is a problem for many children and young people, yet challenges in defining the term and methodological issues have made research findings difficult to compare (Pugh & Chitiyo, 2012). Nevertheless, there is agreement that certain factors at different ecological levels can raise or lower the likelihood of being bullied, and that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) tend to be more vulnerable than their peers without ASD. The social impairments at the core of ASD have led to these children being termed “perfect victims” (Klin, Volkmar, & Sparrow, 2000, p. 6), although their developmental and behavioural profiles may mean that some bullying research conducted with typically developing peers is inappropriate for this group. Nevertheless, if left unaddressed, the problem of bullying may prevent inclusion in school and have serious negative effects on the child.The aim of the current study was to investigate prevalence, victim role, risk and protective factors for being bullied among children and young people with ASD, using a representative sample taken from the evaluation of Achievement for All (Humphrey et al., 2011). An embedded mixed methods design was used to permit a richer understanding of being bullied. For the risk and protection analyses there were 722 responses from teachers and 119 from parents concerning children with ASD. Teachers and parents completed a survey on bullying and wider outcome areas, with additional contextual data collected. Data were analysed using multiple regression, including a cumulative risk analysis. There were five focus pupils in the qualitative strand, and interviews were conducted with teachers, parents and pupils to investigate issues around being bullied. Thematic analysis was used to explore the interview data.Results indicated that children and young people with ASD were bullied more than other pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, although actual prevalence varied greatly according to the method of measurement. Children with ASD were more likely to be victims, although the proportion of bully-victims was higher than in the general population. A multiple regression analysis with bullying mean score as the dependent variable indicated that 43% of variance was attributable to the predictor variables in the teacher model, and 38% in the parent one. Risk factors were having higher levels of behaviour problems, being in Years 5, 7 and 10 (compared with Year 1), use of public/school transport to get to school, and being at School Action Plus; protective factors were increased positive relationships, attending a special school, and higher levels of parental engagement and confidence. Bullying rose according to the number risks to which a child was exposed, and the rise was exponential in the teacher model. Qualitative results allowed an exploration of the experience of bullying and processes contributing to vulnerability, with transition emerging as an additional concern. Implications and directions for future research are discussed in the context of these findings.

The aim of this doctoral research is to contribute to the growing body of knowledge concerning workplace bullying by considering the help-seeking experiences of targets of bullying and organisational responses to their complaints. A phenomenological research design was adopted. Twenty-two Irish primary school teachers (7 male, 15 female) self-selected for interview. Data were analysed utilising an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis framework.

All those interviewed had made complaints in accordance with the nationally agreed procedures stipulated to address workplace bullying in their schools. Redress procedures comprises several stages. All had engaged in stage one and two of the official complaints procedures; and all had availed of counselling, with most engaging with the recommended employee assistance service (formerly known as ‘Care Call’ now Medmark). Some participants had ceased engagement at stage 2, while other participants who had proceeded to stage three, ceased engagement at this juncture. Further participants proceeded to stage 4, of whom two are currently proscribed from returning to their posts due to ongoing disputes based upon retaliation for complaints, which comprised challenges to their fitness to work.

It is significant that no participant expressed satisfaction with the outcome of exercising agency and engaging with redress procedures. In fact, complaints procedures served as technologies of power for bullies who launched counterattacks. This doctoral study traced the pre-action, action, response, and overall consequences for the teacher as the target of workplace bullying describing targets’ resistance within the context of complex social interactions and considered possible supportive, preventative, and resolution strategies.

The resultant approach has wide-ranging implications for the present pernicious practices, and it identified a number of proposals for professional practice and modifications in the way in which workplace bullying may be countered and contained. This thesis contributes to discourses of agency in workplace bullying and challenges both researchers and policymakers to fully elucidate the various issues surrounding pathways to redress for bullying. In addition through its emphasis on the power dynamics which characterize redress it extends the limited available literature in the substantive area about the ineffectiveness of complaints procedures.

Moreover, despite the research limitation respecting the modest scale of the study involving self-selecting teachers, the richness of the data elicited underscores the problematic and contingent assumptions underpinning anti-bullying policies and procedures which purportedly address workplace bullying within small organisations.