Communication Monographs Vol. 73, No. 4, December 2006, pp. 406 Á433

Take This Job and . . . : Quitting and Other Forms of Resistance to Workplace Bullying
Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik

Adult bullying at work is an unbelievable and, at times, shattering experience, both for those targeted as well as for witnessing colleagues. This study examines the narratives of 30 workers, some of whom where targeted and all of whom saw others bullied. Their responses paint a complex picture of power in bullying situations that reframe the ‘‘power-deficient target’’ into agents who galvanize a variety of resources on their own or others’ behalf but also place them at considerable risk. In some cases, employees evaluate the abusive situation and quickly resign. Others protest but, if resistance fails to stop abuse, they also leave organizations. The paths of resistance, case outcomes, and dialectic nature of resistance and control are discussed. Keywords: Workplace Bullying; Verbal Aggression; Organizational Communication; Resistance; Power Adult bullying at work is a shocking, frightening, and at times shattering experience, both for those targeted and for onlookers. Workplace bullying, mobbing, and emotional abuse*essentially synonymous phenomena*are persistent, verbal, and nonverbal aggression at work that include personal attacks, social ostracism, and a multitude of other painful messages and hostile interactions. Because this phenomenon is perpetrated by and through communication, and because workers’ principal responses are communicative in nature, it is vital that communication scholars join the academic dialogue about this damaging feature of worklife. The harm to workers runs the gamut of human misery including ‘‘anxiety, depression, burnout, frustration, helplessness, . . . difficulty concentrating, . . .
Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik (PhD Arizona State University, 2005) is