ABSTRACT
There is universal consensus amongst researchers, practitioners and governmental authorities that psychological violence is responsible for significant costs for individuals, organisations and the community. The long-term costs for individual mental and physical health, economic costs associated with the loss of productivity and staff turnover, community health, compensation and litigation, not to mention the impact on families, have all been well documented. In addition to these well-acknowledged costs, additional important outcomes should not be allowed to slip under the radar. For example, the presence of abuse can encourage further abusive behaviour by the victim and others. This is directly related to the earlier discussion of the contagion affect. It has been argued that once an environment of abuse is able to take hold and become a norm, then it is more likely to continue to develop or to be expressed in terms of other counterproductive work behaviours (Leiter and Patterson, 2014). This pattern of violence been linked to loss in productivity not only for the victim but also for the working group, and it will undermine commitment to the organisation and contribute to loss of job satisfaction and the departure of skilled workers. The cumulative effect of failing to deal with the problem can be likened to the snowball effect in that, if left unattended, it will increase over time. Recognition of these costs is reflected in the adoption of legislated protections, production of a plethora of guides and codes setting out employer responsibilities, extensive research to identify antecedent factors and highly promoted tactics and practices promising immediate solutions. This makes understanding the current state of evidence as to what works in the way of prevention and intervention critical. As highlighted in Chapter 6, some
links can be made with evidence from criminology rather than workplace abuse literature.
