Lot of people nowadays are feeling stressed in their jobs. IT sector is not an exception and it was important to investigate the situation further in order to suggest recommendations. Purpose of this study was to examine levels of stress felt by IT workers in Ireland and main causes of that.

Quantitative study was conducted, in total 94 respondents participated. The results provided evidence that the employees frequently felt stressed and nervous, as they had a large amount of work to do, which required increased concentration and high levels of knowledge. Also, most of the respondents admitted that they did not have enough physical activity and also commonly experienced some negative physical symptoms – dizziness and tiredness and psychological symptoms – irritability, lack of concentration and angriness. Correlation analysis between the perceived stress and the feelings about the work revealed that higher levels of stress were highly associated with a decreased physical and mental well-being, decreased satisfaction with the workplace and personal life and trust and communication issues with co-workers and superiors. This study confirmed the previous results and suggested that, indeed, excessive stress in the workplace negatively affects all aspects of work and family lives. Also, relationship between stress and various demographical influences were tested. No significant differences between genders were found, even though literature suggests that women tend to be more stressed in the workplace.

Companies within the IT industry should take proper actions, in order to ensure that the employees are motivated and perform well, but without exceeding certain stress limits, which negatively affect their lives.

The dominant discourse in the media is that we live in a post-feminist era, in which feminism is no longer needed as women have achieved equality (McRobbie, 2004), and are assertive, confident, dominant, and equal. However, in sexting research (Ringrose et al., 2013; 2012), girls and boys still inhabit contradictory positions on what it means to do femininity or masculinity.

This study focuses on sexting amongst young people in Northern Ireland about which there is very little qualitative research. Interviews were conducted with four stakeholder organisations who assist schools in the delivery of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE), and with pastoral care co-ordinators in three post-primary schools to ascertain how their school is currently responding to sexting issues. Focus group interviews were then conducted with seventeen (ten girls and seven boys) 14–17-year-olds.

Stakeholder organisations and schools view sexting behaviour in various ways: as child sexual abuse, bullying, selfish gratification, and a child protection issue. By contrast, young people see sexting as normal behaviour. The young people report that it is more likely to be boys pressurising girls for a picture, a common finding in sexting research. Unlike the literature, however, this study found that girls also instigate sexting and put pressure on boys to send pictures. Despite this, there is still an unequal relationship between girls and boys because of the objectification of girls (and, rarely, boys). The study concludes that young people should advise on the content of RSE lessons and resources, and that RSE should move away from telling young people not to sext but to help them explore appropriate relationship behaviours, including sexting. Teachers should have access to appropriate training to help them feel confident about teaching such material.

This thesis research aims to identify and test the efficacy of a self-administered intervention that victims of workplace bullying can use to help themselves if they have fallen into a state of psychological inflexibility. Some such individuals will resort to using an active or passive approach to confront a bully. While these approaches can be useful to temporarily alleviate the negative experiences arising from workplace bullying, they do not help to address the negative thoughts and emotions, such as self-blame and shame, that can manifest themselves because of bullying. Individuals dwelling in their negative experiences are essentially allowing themselves to get stuck in their thinking, which can eventually lead to depression and stress. There is currently no self-administered intervention that deals with this. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was chosen to be examined as a possible solution for this problem in this thesis research. ACT has been found to be useful in helping individuals who suffer from depression, stress and anxiety disorders, all of which are symptoms suffered by victims of workplace bullying. In the ACT model, there are six inter-related processes (acceptance, defusion, being present, self-as-context, committed action and values) and the
culmination of all these processes helps individuals to become psychologically flexible. Three studies were conducted in this thesis research and the participants were from Asia, specifically from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Study 1 involved a total of 50 participants using a questionnaire, sent using Qualtrics, an online software. It was conducted to identify whether those who have been exposed to workplace bullying are indeed low in psychological flexibility. This was found to be the case in this research. In Study 2, ten participants from those who had participated in the questionnaire were identified to have been bullied and to have scored low in their psychological flexibility score. The ten participants were randomly allocated into either an intervention group or a control group. Those who were in the intervention group received three sessions of skills training, and, apart from two participants, the remaining participants were found to have shown some change in their psychological flexibility. Using a qualitative approach in Study 3, thematic analysis was conducted and revealed that the participants did show a change in their mindset and were able to apply what they had learned to attain psychological flexibility. This thesis research reveals preliminary evidence of the efficacy of ACT for individuals who have been exposed to workplace bullying. This thesis should pave the way for further research in the area of workplace bullying, to explore and focus on intervention that bullied targets can use to help themselves to navigate through the residual psychological thoughts and emotions they carry as a result of their bullying experiences.

This thesis investigates workplace bullying which refers to repeated negative acts between two parties where power imbalance exists, normally the victim being the one with less power. The aim of this thesis is to (1) investigate the longitudinal impact of workplace bullying on employees’ health and well-being, (2) examine the cognitive reactions (PC) and behavioural reactions (coping strategies) as a mechanism of frontline employees in dealing with workplace bullying and (3) explore how employees perceive and make meaning of their bullying experiences in the workplace. This research uses a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach to identify and explore workplace bullying trough frontline employees’ perception. Study 1 examined 70 frontline employees from various organizations living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This study focuses on the longitudinal impact of workplace bullying on employees’ health and well-being and its reverse causation, mediating mechanism of perseverative cognition on the bullying-well-being relationship as well as the moderating role of coping in the mediating relationship through a survey approach. Meanwhile, Study 2 identified and explored actions that were perceived as bullying, experiences and reactions both cognitive and
behavioural of the victims dealing with workplace bullying, and the impacts on their health and well-being through a narrative approach. This study involved 20 participants recruited from Study 1 who were identified as victims. Results revealed that bullying was prevalent within the workplace which gives negative impact to the employees’ physical and psychological health. Repetitive negative thinking and worrying mediated the bullying-well-being relationship and this is moderated by certain acts of coping (e.g. problem solving and ignoring
the problem). Silent retaliation and religious coping were one of the themes that emerged from the second study. Results of the two studies will be discussed further in the following chapters. The findings from this thesis reveals the need to improve the awareness of workplace bullying phenomena and organization’s current practice that would fit the needs of front line employees. This includes providing greater organizational support, better reinforcements of current policies, improve communication and develop preventive interventions.

There has been a lot of recent media coverage of, and research that has drawn attention to, the increase in reporting of workplace bullying (WPB) and harassment in the National Health Service (NHS). These reports have indicated that this culture of bullying has impacted on the quality of care for service users (Francis, 2013). The first aim of this research was to understand the lived experiences of WPB or harassment in the NHS and to examine the dynamics of power that construct the bullying relationship at different levels; the institutional
level (macro level), the workplace (meso level) and at the individual level (micro level). The second aim was to understand how employees are both affected by, and resist power. The potential for resistance in an organisation could be used to expand knowledge in the counselling psychology profession (CPP) at the level of both research and intervention. This is an area that the CPP is well able to support. Therapists and Healthcare Professionals (HCP), who had left the NHS, were recruited from WPB websites and word of mouth and invited to
attend a narrative interview. All were from different parts of the UK, representing varied NHS healthcare settings. Therapists and HCP were chosen because they are situated at the interface of the competing institutional systems that often reproduce bullying cultures, whilst at the same time could be facing the challenges of offering therapy to some service users who could be experiencing the same thing. Narratives were transcribed and analysed using narrative inquiry (NI) and a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FDA) as these allowed a
deepening of an analysis of power at different levels. WPB and harassment manifested as discrimination, such as one narrator who was not offered a senior post for being black and challenging, whilst at other times this was impersonal, such as the general pressure of not conforming to workplace standards, such as working overtime, manifesting in group ganging. Whilst racism manifested as a visible, personal and humiliating attack, WPB experienced by the white narrators tended to be job related where the main threat was being made invisible in the service. All the narratives indicated how WPB and harassment reproduced normative structures in NHS workplace cultures that often discriminated against difference. They also revealed that not only were the narrators subject to WPB and harassment at an individual level, but this was also manifested through the organisation and institutionally, as racism and sexual discrimination. In summary, these findings indicated strongly that ‘the personal’ is indeed, ‘political’. Implications and recommendation for the counselling psychology profession were made and expanded upon.

Policy-making and service development tends to what has been called the ‘ideal of impartiality’ whereby difference between different population groups is reduced to unity. At the same time, inherent within equality law is an understanding that the population is heterogeneous, experiencing complex forms of injustice which require the opportunity for legal redress. The Equality Act 2010 includes a general duty on public authorities, the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), to have due regard to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different groups in relation to nine protected characteristics. Secondary legislation in Scotland has added significant additional requirements with the potential to transform the way that public authorities think and act about equality including duties to report progress on mainstreaming the equality duty, to publish equality outcomes and report progress and to assess and review policies and practices. The way that this secondary legislation has been
conceptualised, interpreted and how it has informed planning and practice within public authorities has not previously been the subject of a body of research. This thesis has sought to contribute to greater understanding about the potential of the PSED in Scotland by applying interpretive policy analysis to the application of the duty in one city, Glasgow. Interpretive approaches to policy focus on meanings that shape actions and institutions and draw on a range of methods to follow the objects, the language, the relevant actors and the acts
associated with the policy. Within this context, an assumption has been made that a compound narrative about injustice, equality as constitutive of social justice and institutional change within the city can be derived by investigating meaning and action associated with the PSED from a number of different perspectives. Firstly, the framing and the discourses associated with formal texts required for compliance produced by five key institutions with responsibility for different facets of city life have been investigated critically. These five institutions are
the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the City of Glasgow College, selected for both their relationship to social structures which determine equality and for their responsibilities for its different dimensions. Secondly, the perspectives of three communities of meaning – those directly responsible for compliance, those indirectly responsible for compliance and advocates for social groups – have been gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews in order to compare and contrast their interpretations with the formal texts. Lastly, the meaning and actions associated with the mainstreaming requirement of the secondary duties have been considered in order to ascertain whether and how equality aspirations have shaped the strategic and operational responsibilities of Glasgow City Council, health and social care provision and further education in the city in relation to theories of urban justice. The PSED was largely viewed as an important and beneficial piece of law, that there was no room for
discrimination within the city and that equality across different social groups was an acceptable ideal. The duty was also viewed as a means of exerting pressure on public institutions both from within and from the outside to reflect on the meaning of equality and to consider the way that organisations both perpetuated and resolved inequality. At the same time, the opportunities afforded by the secondary duties to transform social systems and dimensions of equality were not met and as a consequence the potential for Glasgow to be a more just city for its heterogeneous population not realised.

The World Health Organisation (2017) asserts that changes in the world of work have resulted in new risks to employee health and safety. The focus of occupational health and safety professionals has evolved beyond physical risks, and now includes psychosocial risks such as workplace bullying. Workplace bullying is an extreme social stressor that has the potential to affect victims, witnesses, co-workers, significant others, the organisation itself and society. Whilst much is known about this phenomenon in other parts of the world, very little research effort has examined workplace bullying in Sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana. Accordingly, this thesis aimed at understanding the lived experiences of employees in the nascent oil and gas industry in Ghana. Furthermore, this research sought to apply the Job Demands-Resources model to workplace bullying and test an adapted theoretical model based on Einarsen et al’s (2011) comprehensive model of workplace bullying. To this end, a mixed methods design was adopted using employees from the upstream, midstream and downstream operations within Ghana’s oil and gas industry. The qualitative study used data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with fifteen employees across the oil and gas sector in Ghana. In the three quantitative studies, three hundred and twenty-six employees responded to both online and paper-based questionnaires. Results of this research indicate that work-related bullying behaviours are more common than person-related bullying in the oil and gas sector in Ghana. Additionally, aspects of Ghanaian culture, unequal distribution of power, supervisors’ perceived job insecurity as well as perceived racial discrimination were identified as causes of workplace bullying. This study also found that employees reported psychological distress, mistakes and errors, poor work attitudes, and turnover intentions as a result of bullying at work. Furthermore, recreational activities and social support as well as religious coping were identified as resources available to employees and used to deal with workplace bullying. Job demands (work pace and workload) and resources (job control and supervisor social support) were associated with workplace bullying. Results again showed that the interaction of some specific job demands, and resources was related to workplace bullying. Moreover, psychological capital and religiosity respectively moderated the relationship between workplace bullying and psychological well-being. Finally, psychological well-being mediated the relationship between workplace bullying and engagement, burnout and job satisfaction respectively. Workplace bullying is pervasive in Ghana’s oil and gas industry and occupational health and safety professionals should seek to reduce specific job demands and increase specific job resources. Organisations in Ghana can aid the development of psychological capital through training to enhance employee well-being whilst understanding coping mechanisms such as religiosity. Additionally, organisations should implement anti-bullying policies and procedures fairly and ensure a psychologically safe work environment. Findings from this thesis are integrated and further discussed in the final chapter. The limitations of the various studies are critically analysed with recommendations for future studies. Additionally, the implications of the findings for theory and practice, especially in Ghanaian organisations, are highlighted.

Inclusion in schools is a highly complex and much debated topic (Edmonds, 2012; Hodge, 2016; Tutt, 2007; Webster and Blachford, 2015; Whitelock, 2012). However, the voice of the ‘excluded’ is rarely heard. This study has sought to listen to the voice of the excluded to hear ‘their truth’ about educational barriers and their consequences, along with innovative preventative measures. Since lack of educational attainment has been identified as the ‘biggest driver of future poverty’ (Rowntree, 2017) and school bullying/exclusion has been identified as a precursor to self-harm and suicide; suicide being the leading cause of death in almost all European countries (Hawton, Saunters and O’ Connor, 2012), this thesis answers an urgent call to find preventative and restorative solutions. An interpretative phenomenological analysis approach (IPA) was implemented to further examine Edmonds’ stance
that the education system unfairly discriminates against individuals ‘with’ difference (Edmonds, 2012). Since published data has highlighted many gaps between Wales and the rest of the UK, for example in educational attainment (Adult Basic Skills, 2004; PISA, 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015 (cited in OECD 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015)), Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and health harming behaviour (Bellis, 2017), lack of economic regrowth (Rowntree Foundation, 2017) and rising suicide statistics compared to the rest of the UK (Samaritans, 2018); the research setting was purposely chosen because of the high rates of social poverty, inequality, opioid deaths (BBC, 2019) and self-harm compared to other localities. Semi-structured
interviews were carried out with twelve participants (aged 14-35). Seven emerging superordinate themes were identified: ACEs and trauma, missed assessment, disabling learning environments, bullying, gaslighting and systematic abuse, damages to mental health, survival coping mechanisms and self-medication, revolving door of cycles of oppression and intergenerational poverty, and preventative measures and restorative solutions. The trans-disciplinary findings combine neuro-science, education, behavioural studies, ACEs, sleep studies, neuro-diversity and suicide prevention, to tackle international public health targets which, if implemented by policy makers, could lead a process of emancipatory social reform right across society to create a better future for our children.

Bullying is a concerning worldwide public social, mental and physical health risk and carries many adverse and long-term consequences, including depression, anxiety and psychological maladjustment. Bullying occurs regularly in most school settings, with many children frequently observing some form of bullying at school. School based victimisation is associated with increased school absence and poorer academic attainment. Chapter one explores existing literature on bullying, including definitions, categories, roles, risks and consequences, prevalence and age-related prevalence. Chapter 2 discusses legal requirements on schools to have an antibullying policy that sets out their preventive and reactive work and includes an
overview of the legislation, government guidance, and common school practice in the UK. Chapter 3 reports on the implementation of the KiVa, the Finnish school-based antibullying programme, delivered in Key Stage 2 [aged 7 to 11 years] of UK primary schools. First, it describes the baseline characteristics of approximately 12,000 pupils prior to KiVa implementation, reporting the baseline prevalence of victim, bully, and bully-victim status and then evaluates the outcomes and costs for 41 early implementer schools after one year of
implementation. Chapter 4 describes the development, theoretical foundations, and supporting Finnish and International evidence for the KiVa programme, and the introduction of KiVa to the UK. Chapter 5 presents a case study of KiVa in a UK primary school and lessons learned from implementation. The final chapter, chapter 6, provides a summary of the research findings and discusses their implications, strengths, limitations, and future directions for research and implementation of the KiVa antibullying programme.

This study revisits the behavioural aspect of management accounting control (MAC) that has remained mostly unexplored over the last four decades. In particular, this study investigates; how managers and supervisors use accounting technologies and other management control mechanisms (MCMs) to intentionally or unintention- ally bully the shop floor workers of selected privately owned RMG factories located in a high-power distance emerging economy. Drawing on Max Weber’s ‘social stratification’ (i.e. class, status and party), this study has revealed that to maximise organisations’ profit and secure their personal gains, managers and supervisors frequently use accounting technologies and other MCMs to deliberately (most of the cases) bully the subordinate workers. In so doing, managers and supervisors justified their bullying behaviours through workers’ class situation, educational credential, geographic location and gender. Owners of the selected factories, on the other hand, legitimised MAC based- managerial bullying (MB) through their economic resources and social status. In fact, by involving in state politics and obtaining legislative power, they also influenced government policies (e.g. labour laws and national minimum wage) to reduce the collective bargaining of workers in a particular sector of the economy. Nevertheless, owners also patronise insiders (e.g. supervisors and managers) and outsiders (e.g. members of political parties, state police, government employees, and bureaucrats) to bully the workers institutionally through intimidation, harassment, and violence. This study, therefore, argues that there is a strong connection between MAC and MB that might succeed through the existence of social stratification and political patronage in a particular sector of a high-power distance emerging economy.