Browsing by Subject "puuttuminen"

Aims. According to recent studies on working conditions (2013) 44% of employees have encountered workplace bullying. In addition to this, there has been a constant increase in the number of workplace related bullying cases during the last 20 years. The aim of this thesis was to examine elementary school principals and their perceptions and observations on work place bullying that they have encountered in their work community. As the definition of workplace bullying is so wide and complex, it was important to identify how principals understand the concept of workplace bullying. It was also studied how many principals had interfered with bullying incidents and how they had handled those situations. Methods. The research data was gathered by sending a questionnaire to 86 principals working in elementary schools in Helsinki. Eight answers were received. The study was a qualitative study but it also included quantitative features eg. the conduction of the survey and data collection methods. The subject of the study was quite delicate so the survey was carried out anonymously. Results and conclusions. The definitions of workplace bullying varied among respondents. Principals described many forms and features of bullying and they interfered with bullying in various ways. Many of the respondents felt that they were unable to resolve some of the bullying cases they encountered. Other studies have also made similar observations: there are very few ways to effectively interfere with workplace bullying. However, some of the respondents had never experienced or encountered workplace bullying in their work environment during their whole career. The reason behind the lack of workplace bullying cases in these schools was explained by the amount of work principals had put into building a positive and healthy work environment.