Welsh (1999) examines sexual harassment from a gender perspective and concludes that sexual harassment may be contextualized by both 'organizational and individual factors" and that gender examination is primary to the study of sexual harassment; further she claims there is no unified theoretical framework that can help explain the occurrence of sexual harassment (169).
Many studies have concluded that sexual harassment lowers morale, increases absenteeism, decreases overall job satisfaction and individual's perceptions of opportunity within the organization as well as damages interpersonal relationships (Welsh, 1999; Gruber 1992). In addition sexual harassment can have psychological and health consequences on people including nausea, stress and headaches which can impact an individual's personal and work life (Welsh, 1999). There are even studies that link frequent occurrences of sexual harassment to long-term illnesses including post traumatic stress disorders (Welsh, 1999).
Sexual harassment thus has the ability to not only affect work related outcomes but to also control and individual's personal life and interpersonal relationships, and may even influence an individual's attitudes and feelings of control and self accomplishment (Welsh, 1999).
Conclusions/Recommendations
Sexual harassment is obviously and insidious and ongoing problem in the workplace that has not yet been adequately addressed by organizations. Sexual harassment has long-term consequences on victims and the potential to impact a person's work and personal life. There is even research that indicates that repeated exposure to sexual harassment in the workplace may lead to long-term psychological and health consequences including post traumatic stress disorder (Welsh, 1999).
Because of these factors it is important that researchers continue to pursue the nature of sexual harassment and attempt to define mechanisms for halting it's spread in the workplace in the future.
A large body of the research...
From the research reviewed it is already apparent that sexual harassment is indeed occurring. Thus the emphasis should shift to finding definitive ways to prevent sexual harassment for all people in the future, as well as defining ways for helping people subjected to sexual harassment to heal physically and psychologically.
Future surveys of sexual harassment may benefit "by linking interviews with individuals, supervisors, and human resource mangers as well as multiplicity sampling which could provide data about the relationship between sexual harassment, organizational policies and job related outcomes" (Welsh, 1999, 169). Thus future studies should attempt not only to recognize and identify sexual harassment but explore it's long-term consequences and avenues for prevention in the future.
References
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender Society, 4, 139-158.
Dellinger, K., Giuffre, P.A. & Williams, C.L. (1999). "Sexuality in the workplace:
Organizational control, sexual harassment, and the pursuit of pleasure." Annual Review of Sociology, 73.
Grauerholz, E., & King, a. (1997). Prime time sexual harassment. Violence against Women, 3, 129-148.
Gruber JE. 1992. A typology of personal and environmental sexual harassment: research and policy implications from the 1990s. Sex Roles 22:447-64
Montemurro, B. (2003). "Not a laughing matter: Sexual harassment as 'material' on workplace-based situation comedies." Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 433.
Welsh, S. (1999). "Gender and sexual harassment." Annual Review of Sociology, 169.
Sexual Harassment
