Psychotic disorders are experienced by between 100,0000 and 500,000 people in the U.K. at any one time.  The symptoms which characterise these disorders are more common in the general population than previously assumed.  Studies of both adults and children have demonstrated that up to 70% of non-clinical samples endorse items related to psychotic experiences.  Pre-psychosis or psychosis prodrome has been considered influential in the early identification and intervention in psychosis.  However the experiences that have been identified as indicators of psychosis are non-specific such as quality and withdrawal and could also be indicative of other psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression.  Models of psychosis previously focused upon deficits in those with psychosis.  Current cognitive models focus more upon thinking biases such as attributional bias or jumping to conclusions.  These models move away from the idea that psychosis is experienced by people who are physiologically or biologically different from those who do not.  These models are the foundation of current psychological intervention in psychosis and aim to reduce associated stigma and shame.  The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of psychotic experiences in a non-clinical sample of school-aged children.  Associations with depression, anxiety, stress, bullying and dissociation were also investigated.  Nine questionnaires were completed by 308 14 to 16 years olds.  results indicated that 98% of the sample endorsed at least one item on the early signs of psychosis measure and 92% endorsed at least one item on both the measures of delusional ideation and hallucinatory experiences.  Psychotic experiences were significantly associated with all other factors and those who had been bullied were significantly more likely to report psychotic experiences.  This study adds further support to the continuum model of psychosis and clinical practice implications are discussed.

This thesis deals with the issue of bullying at work.  The bullying concept refers to situations where a person is persistently and over time exposed to hostile and demeaning behaviours at work.  Whether the bullying is deliberate of not, it is likely to cause humiliation, offence and distress in the target person.  In the thesis, the focus is on two aspects of bullying at work – namely prevalence rates and occupational health outcomes.  In recent years, attention has been paid to bullying and harassment among health care professionals.  Findings from several countries suggest that health professionals are frequently exposed to various kinds of bullying behaviours or acts.  Indeed, the two studies reported in this thesis point to high levels of bullying in the health sector. The studies took place in two hospital trusts, one located in Scotland and the other in Iceland.  Questionnaires were used to assess the prevalence and nature of bullying experiences in these trusts.  The study samples were large and randomly generated.  Two key methods were used to assess prevalence levels.  The first method focused on persistent exposure to undesirable behaviour at work.  The second method focused on subjective experiences of bullying at work.  An interesting disparity in findings appeared, depending on the method used.  Results from the first method consistently pointed to higher prevalence rates than results from the second method. Apart from studying local prevalence rates, the project aimed at comparing the rates from the two countries.  The results from this cross-cultural comparison pointed consistently to higher levels of bullying in Scotland than in Iceland. However, both studies showed that people were most likely to report work-related negative acts and personal derogation or isolation.  This accords with the notion that rational-appearing aggression and other forms of covert aggression are more frequently used in the workplace than are overt forms of aggression.

This study analyses the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace from a social constructionist perspective to argue that what is considered sexual harassment is different according to context.  Using this framework of structure and agency in two different countries at a particular time, it argues that sexual harassment has been constructed differently within the law in France and England during the 1990s, and that these differences are also reflected in contrasting assumptions about sexual harassment within the narratives of individuals living in France and England. In the first instance, the study compares the legal definitions of sexual harassment in France and England during the 1990s and argues that in England sexual harassment has been defined as a discrimination issue, whilst in 1992 French law on sexual harassment deliberately rejected this frame and defined sexual harassment as sex-based conduct aimed at obtain sexual favours.  The study explored the implications of the French definition of sexual harassment. The study then explores the narratives of a set of matched female student respondents in France and England undertaking secretarial courses.  It argues that assumptions relating to power and sexuality at the national legal level also exist within the micro narratives of individuals.  Two competing conceptualisations of sexual harassment are identified, that of ‘natural unreciprocated desire’, whilst English respondents are more likely to understand sexual harassment as the ‘power to discriminate’.  The study also finds particular cross-national differences in the narratives.  French respondents were more likely to express a preference for male bosses and colleagues than did the British respondents.  They also reported less concern regarding intimate relationships at work than respondents in England.  In addition, French respondents were more likely to blame women’s dress and behaviour for sexual harassment.  The empirical data identifies some overlap in conceptualisations of respondents within each country, which indicated that competing understandings co-exist and there is the potential for change.

This work has focused on the antecedents of sexual harassment as a whole, setting aside the examination of differential antecedents for the different behavioural categories of sexual harassment (gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion) although different categories may be differentially determined, especially when considering the variety of behaviours involved within these. The present study aims to: (a) investigate each category of sexual harassment separately, (b) explore what person and what organisational characteristics contribute to each type of harassment, (c) examine differences in the dynamics behind perpetrating and experiencing each type, (d) examine how individual responses to harassment mediate outcomes, as well as (e) what role organisational context has in predicting responses or outcomes of harassment, and (f) to investigate gender differences within this framework. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to develop models tested on a male dominated police organisation (135 male and 125 female police officers and support staff) in the UK in the first instance, and subsequently on a more gender balanced academic institution (118 male and 84 female academics and support staff). Results suggested that, for the most part, relationships generalised across organisations, such that, male perpetrating, for both categories of harassment, was predicted by attitudes alone, while among females gender harassment was predicted by job gender context and attitudes, and unwanted sexual attention was predicted by agreeables. Experiencing harassment was a function of organisational tolerance and personality characteristics, with different patterns emerging for males and for females. The most consistent finding in outcome models was the negative impact of internal coping on psychological health.

This thesis explores heterosexual, lesbian and gay sexualities in two secondary schools in the North East of England. By applying anthropological theories about social rules and pollution rituals, it broadens our understanding of the complex and contradictory experiences of and responses to harassment and bullying adopted by different professionals (teachers, education social workers, youth workers and a school nurse) and by young people. Inspired by professional experiences as a social worker with young people, and by the writings of Mary Douglas, the research began with a six-month work placement and exploratory study in a local authority education department. Subsequently, data was gathered from sixteen individual in-depth interviews with professionals and three group interviews with nineteen young people. Results revealed a range of contradictory understandings and responses to the harassment and bullying of many lesbians and gay people.  Professionals and young people highlighted a number of recurring themes around communication and appearance, the formal and informal curriculum, and invisibility.  There were considerable parallels between the results and the literature in relation to language, bullying, sex education and compulsory heterosexuality. Participants felt that gender and age differences were important as well as sexuality differences, and made comparisons between boys and girls, young people and adults, and heterosexuals and homosexuals.  Other differences were also found to be important. Teachers were more fearful than everyone else (the education social workers, youth workers, school nurse and young people) about lesbian and gay issues.  Teachers had less contact with lesbian and gay young people than did the other professionals (education social workers, youth workers and school nurse). Professionals expressed less homophobia than young people. Applying Mary Douglas’ analyses of social rituals and rules about pollution and danger to these results provided a new perspective for understanding the harassment and bullying of young lesbian and gay men in schools.  Her theories offer an explanation for the ambiguities and dissonance that the professionals and young people experienced in their schools. This explanation forms the basis of a new understanding on which to build a more coherent and useful context for future research and professional practice.  For example, researchers might strategically and specifically examine the ambiguities in sexual language, and professionals could incorporate ideas about minimising differences and managing ambiguity in their training.

This research is concerned with the communicative processes involved when young people talk about an anti-bullying strategy called peer support. Peer Support involves training a group of young people to support their peers in any difficulties they may be facing at school or home. The initiative tends to be implemented as part of a ‘whole school’ approach to anti-bullying strategies. This thesis focuses on qualitative analyses of discursive devices and strategies employed by young people, their teachers and trainers as they interact. The project draws on video-recorded material from 4 schools in England. The data follows groups of young people over one academic year, and include 6 days of training plus semi-structured interviews, a focus group meeting and an unsupervised discussion. All of the young people who participated in this project were either training to be supporters, trained supporters or attending a school that had a peer support system in place. I will show how traditional research into anti-bullying strategies has developed and discuss how the majority of these findings are focused on quantitative methodology. This thesis will then examine the development of qualitative research methods and show the role that language-based research can play when a different methodology is utilised. The focus of this type of research is on the voices of young people and the role that social interaction plays in constructions and formulations surrounding issues of peer support schemes in school. This type of in-depth analysis allows insight into dominant issues and dilemmas that emerge when a peer support scheme is actioned. This thesis concludes with recommendations for training programmes and highlights the major issues that implementing a peer support scheme in a secondary school may have on the young people involved. It is only through studying the dynamics of social interaction that these findings have been generated and, as such, many interesting areas of future research have emerged.

This thesis investigates three issues in relation to governments’ policies towards the Further Education (FE) sector between 1992 and 2003.  This investigation entails using lengthy, semi-structured interviews with four senior post- holders within the FE sector (all of whom were influential during the period of the changes) and a comparison of their views with those from government policy documents, policy statements and secondary literature.  This data explores first, the ideologies behind the incorporation of the FE college sector, as FE colleges were taken out of Local Authority control and incorporated into their own independent organisations.  This ideology is found to be centred on the concept of new managerisalism, which postulates that managers should be allowed to manage.  This means that any democratic accountability structures and other controls that are perceived to inhibit management freedom in the public sector have to be removed.  Secondly, this thesis analyses the ideologies of incorporation, and reviews the motivators that persuaded the newly elected Labour Government in 1997 that there needed to be a change from the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) model of FE to that of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) model.  The dominant motivators cited by the respondents for this phenomena were the problems in some FE colleges of bullying and mismanagement, sleaze, uncontrolled expansion of franchised provision and a failure of the governors in many FE colleges to make their senior management accountable.  Thirdly, the thesis seeks views on the likely effects of the LSC on the FE sector and the possible effectiveness of the different ideologies of the LSC, compared with those of the FEFC.  Respondents felt that the LSC planning model proposed, might not work in practice in the way that the LSC intended, as they felt it was extremely difficult to obtain accurate data on skill needs from which FE colleges could work.  The thesis also shows that the senior post holders’ views strongly reinforced the expectations of the secondary literature and government policies.  There is also a concurrence among the interviewees, that the structural changes made by Government in the FE college sector since 1992, have brought (and may bring) some negative consequences for FE colleges.

Bullying occurs in most schools to a certain extent. However, this does not mean bully-victim relationships should be considered to be acceptable.  Being the victim of bullying has been associated with a range of maladjustment variables in children, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress.  Depression is the internalising symptom that has been most strongly associated with victimization (Hawker and Boulton, 2002).  Yet there has been little research into either protective or risk factors for depression in victimized children.  Theories of depression following stressful life events would suggest that social support and cognitive vulnerabilities are two important factors to investigate.  The first paper explores the literature on bullying and theories of depression in children.  The review brings these two areas of research together by examining social support and cognitive vulnerabilities in children. The current study had two aims.  Firstly, to investigate whether social support protected children from depression and secondly, to investigate whether cognitive errors were a risk factor for depression in victimized children.  A cross-sectional design was used to compare victims and non-victims.  Victimization was assessed by peer nomination and depression, cognitive errors and social support were assessed by self-report.  Data were analysed using t-tests, analysis of covariance and correlations.  Results supported the hypothesis that depression is associated with victimization.  When cognitive errors were controlled the difference in depression scores between victims and non-victims was reduced.  Social support had different effects in boys and girls.  Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.

Bullying can be defined as “repeated aggression, verbal, psychological or physical conducted by an individual or group against others” (Department of Education, 1993. p.6). Once regarded as a childhood issue, the prolonged suffering of victims into adulthood, the quality of their relationships and their ability to operate effectively in the workplace is an area of concern. These children mature into adults with self-esteem issues, anxiety about life in general and feelings of inadequacy. Being the victim of bullying can persist in adulthood, as the coping skills necessary to deal with the problem have not been suitably developed. For the victims it may lead to a life of depression and low self-esteem causing problems in adult relations and accomplishments. The victims may never develop appropriate self-confidence, preventing them from engaging in adult relationships and pursuing careers. It may in extreme cases even lead to them committing suicide. The bully themselves appear to suffer in a similar manner. The skills for living a well-adjusted life are underdeveloped or simply do not exist at all. They too appear to suffer from relationship problems, a pattern of aggressive behaviour that makes familial relationships difficult; low self-esteem and high anxiety also appear to be characteristic of the adult bullies.

Objectives. To investigate experiences of substance use, bullying and psychological distress in adolescents. Differential patterns of substance use and levels of psychological distress were explored according to bullying status (bullies, victims, bully-victims and controls). There is little previous research exploring the relationship between bullying and substance use. Design. A between groups cross-sectional design was employed. Method. Students aged 13-16 years were recruited from several inner city schools. 263 students completed the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, the Birlesen Depression Scale, the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and a measure of substance use designed by the researcher. Results. Victims and bully-victims were significantly more psychologically distressed, with higher levels of anxiety, depression and lower self-esteem, than bullies or controls. Those participants with higher levels of psychological distress used stimulants and hallucinogens more frequently than those with lower levels of psychological distress. There was no significant positive correlation between victim-hood and bully-victimhood with frequency of substance use. A negative correlation was found between victim-hood and use of hallucinogens and depressants. Being a bully was found to be positively correlated with use of depressants. Finally, reasons for substance use appear to vary according to bullying status. Bullies used substances to ‘have a good time’ and ‘fit in with friends’. Victims used substances to ‘block out bad things that had happened to them’ and to ‘block out negative feelings’. These results highlighted the unique identifiable patterns of substance use according to bully and victim status. However, bully-victims did not appear to have a unique pattern of substance use. Conclusion. Clinical implications of the results include the recognition of a complex association between substance use and bullying. Clinical services are encouraged to consider the differential patterns of substance use according to bullying status, and the subsequent requirement for different interventions and prevention strategies.

The issue of workplace bullying has received considerable attention in the UK in recent years. Despite a handful of surveys undertaken on the issue, no attempt has been made systematically to investigate its prevalence and nature, antecedents and outcomes, across occupations and sectors. This thesis attempts to fill this gap and presents an epidemiological investigation of workplace bullying in Great Britain. Following identification of a large-scale, random sample across a variety of sectors and occupations, objectives that emerged from a review of the literature are examined by means of a quantitative survey. Prevalence-rates of self-reported bullying are established, the nature of the behaviours revealed, and particular risk-groups identified. By means of a factor analysis of an inventory of negative behaviour identified with bullying in Britain, four underlying constructs are revealed: work-related bullying; personal bullying; managerial bullying; and intimidation. An investigation of possible predictors of bullying and negative behaviours reveals that bullying was particularly associated with a particular style of leadership utilising punishment in a non-contingent manner, i.e. unrelated to target behaviour, and where social relationships, particularly with supervisors, were strained. Following analysis, bullying and negative behaviour are found to be associated with negative effects on health and well-being as well as negative organisational outcomes, e.g. absenteeism, reduced productivity and, in particular, increased intention to leave. On average, targets of recent bullying report worst outcomes, followed by previous targets, witnesses of bullying and those who had neither been bullied nor had witnessed bullying. In discussing the results, a distinction is made between bullying processes and negative behaviour. It is argued that, when the local context and demographic factors, e.g. gender, age, race and organisational level, are taken into consideration, overall findings often masked important underlying differences. This highlights the varying meaning of the bullying experience. The complexity and multi-causality of the phenomenon is highlighted, with implications for stress-theory, suggesting that several factors may need to be considered simultaneously, as risk-factors may be the result of an interaction between two or more factors.

Workplace bullying has been increasingly reported amongst a range of commentators as an organizational phenomenon that is on the increase. Narratives and accounts of workplace bullying have appeared from a range of sources that might lead some observers to suggest that bullying is a product of the activities of moral entrepreneurs or is the result of the workplace being perceived as a place of increased risk. This thesis is based on a triangulated pan-Wales study of full and part-time lecturers working in further (FE) and selected higher education (HE) institutions in Wales. The study encompasses unstructured interviews with lecturers who have been bullied; semi-structured interviews with human resource managers and trade union representatives; and a postal questionnaire survey of members of a trade union representing the further and higher education sectors. The study has sought to investigate how lecturers working in FE and HE in Wales have constructed certain behaviours as workplace bullying. By comparing the accounts of victims, ordinary lecturers and key informants such as human resource managers and trade union representatives, we find multiple interpretations and repertoires for bullying in work. For some, bullying is organizational and/or managerial while for others, bullying is the product of individualised conflicts. The lack of direct exposure to accounts of bullying for some participants has resulted in collectivising and shared paradigms, while for others, bullying is perceived as something more akin to school playgrounds. The evidence in this study points to a rejection of bullying at work as a product of moral entrepreneurs and other external labelling sources. Instead, the main finding from this study is that workplace colleagues’ play a central and pivotal role in the social construction processes for workplace bullying. The activities of work colleagues are consistently shown to be at the heart of bullying experiences at work. This is most likely to be in a validating or affirmatory role where they help label managers and the activities of the organization in the localised social constructions of bullying.

The initial aims of this research were to assess the extent and nature of normative adolescent appearance-related concerns. Should levels of concern be high, the secondary aim was to explore the possibility that the same psychosocial strategies that are taught to disfigured adolescents (to raise self-esteem about appearance) might be similarly useful. Action research allowed adolescents themselves to construct a questionnaire concerning the extent and nature of concerns (n=50, Study 1), and also to inform the content and delivery of a subsequent intervention study (Studies 4, n=36; Study 5, n=26). Study 2 involved delivery of the questionnaire to pupils throughout one co-educational secondary school (n=304), and Study 3 to Year 9 pupils in various single-sex and co-educational schools (n=339). Studies 6,7,8 and 9 (n=190, 18, 27 and 10 respectively) investigated whether the taught strategies raised confidence in areas previously defined by pupils (in Study 4) as problematic. In addition, Study 6 investigated whether the inclusion of older peers at the 4 intervention sessions improved confidence. All pupils were asked to complete Rosenberg’s Self-esteem Questionnaire for Adolescents. Content analysis of the Study 1 questionnaire elicited that 94% claimed to have appearance-related concerns. 51% specifically cited fear of teasing or bullying about appearance, 31% that lack of confidence in appearance affects academic work. 20% of Year 9 pupils claimed to truant because of perceived poor appearance. Study 4 found enthusiasm amongst pupils for an intervention. In each of Studies 6-9 the taught strategies were shown to significantly raise confidence in areas previously defined as problematic. These were: confidence to speak up in class (p<0.05); confidence to approach those who look very different from self (p<0.001); and confidence to advise friends who are tested or bullied (p<0.01). Perceived levels of bullying decreased by almost two thirds, from 58% to 21%. Appearance concerns are high in a normative population of adolescents and, similar to their disfigured counterparts, these concerns engender social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that are likely to impact on a variety of contexts, including academically. Participants claimed that the strategies offered to alleviate bullying about appearance also transferred successfully to other kinds of confrontation.

Although it is some twenty years since the establishment of the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a response to extreme psychological trauma, it is still a subject which is surrounded by controversy. This thesis takes a broad-brush approach to workplace trauma, looking at the nature, incidence and treatment of post-traumatic stress within a working environment. A traumatic experience in the workplace takes on a different meaning to employees than traumatic exposures in other settings. Using material collected from traumatised employees the organisational influences on the experience of trauma were demonstrated. This case study material was then used as a mechanism to highlight the need for organisations to consider the best way to meet the needs of traumatised workers. It was essential to this thesis to have an appropriate means to measure post-traumatic stress in the workplace. The development of the IES-E, a post trauma questionnaire, was undertaken to provide organisations with a simple reliable and valid tool to assess the levels of trauma and rates of recovery within its workers. The IES-E questionnaire provided the means to compare the symptoms of being a victim of an armed raid with those of the employee exposed to chronic bullying. The IES-E was also used to provide the means to demonstrate the positive benefits of the post trauma interventions of psychological debriefing and trauma counselling in victims of a major rail crash and a terrorist bomb blast. The requirements for organisations to manage disasters effectively led to the development of a disaster management process that was introduced into a number of organisations. In each of the businesses described, a cost benefit analysis was undertaken indicating that the management approach led to reduced costs and improved mental health.

Bullying in schools has become an increasingly recognised problem. Since Olweus (1978) there has been an increase in research dedicated to this area, highlighting the ways bullying can be defined and its impact on the psychological well being of children and adolescents. As not all young people who are bullied experience psychological consequences, research has also examined differences in coping with

In the third chapter, the results from a pilot study are presented, the first to be conducted in Ireland.  It examines results obtained from 30 self-selected victims, who were interviewed and given a personality test (Cattells’ 16PF5).  Factors contributing to bullying and the effects of bullying were explored, as were the victims’ personality and their perception of the situation. Organisational factors such as stressful and hostile working environments, also the senior position of bullies, their aggressive behaviour and personality were cited by victims as reasons for being bullied.  Most victims reported psychological effects ranging from anxiety to fear, and physical effects ranging from disturbed sleep to behavioural effects such as eating disorders.  In relation to personality, many victims felt they were different, and we found to be anxious, apprehensive, sensitive and emotionally unstable.  Action taken by victims ranged from consulting personnel to taking early retirement. The aim of the investigation reported in Chapter Four was to extend the pilot study and to attempt to make up for its limitations.  Thus, a control group of non-victims was employed, the number of respondents was increased, interviews were conducted in the workplace, and a revised interview schedule and a more appropriate personality test were included.  The sample comprised 60 victims and 60 non-victims, employees from two large organisations in Dublin.  Both samples responded to a semi-structured questionnaire and completed the ICES Personality inventory (Bartram, 1994; 1998).  Results showed that victims were less independent and extraverted, more unstable and more conscientious than non-victims.  The results strongly suggested that personality does play a role in workplace bullying and that personality traits may give an indication of those in an organisation who are most likely to be bullied. In an extension to the main enquiry, the history of respondents with regard to their experience of bullying at school was examined.  Four groups were formed: (1) those who had been bullied both at school and at work, (2) those who had been bullied at work, but not at school, (3) those who had been bullied at school but not at work, and (4) those who had not been bullied at school or at work.  The test results from each group showed that the victim profile was most marked for Group One; Group Four were non-victims throughout their lives; Group Three also produced non-victim profiles; Group Two were most similar to Group One.  In interpreting these findings it is tentatively suggested that Group Three (those without the typical personality characteristics of a victim) were able to shrug off the bullying they experienced at school, whilst Group two had possibly escaped bullying at school because of the support available to them from family and friends, and from being team members of school debating societies and sports teams, support that was no longer available when they were adults. A subsidiary pilot study of Chapter Four re-assessed victims with additional tests of the Interpersonal Behavioural Survey and the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventories, second edition.  Results indicated that again, victims had high dependency and in addition, low self-esteem and direct aggression, poor assertiveness and a tendency to denial and to avoiding conflict. Chapter Five represents an attempt to examine the personality characteristics of bullies, using the ICES and IBS and a behavioural workplace questionnaire (BWQ).  Although it proved difficult to obtain a large enough sample of bullies, findings were encouraging.  Bullies proved to be aggressive hostile individuals, high in extraversion and independence.  They were egocentric and selfish, without much concern for other’s opinions.  Most bullies said that they themselves had been bullied at work. Chapter Six extends the personality profiles of bullies and victims to consider their behaviour.