IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v238y2019ic23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A critical realist exploration of the vulnerability of staff to sexual harassment in residential long-term care

Author

Listed:
  • Grigorovich, Alisa
  • Kontos, Pia

Abstract

Despite that sexual harassment of care staff negatively affects mental health and occupational outcomes, limited research has explored this in the context of residential long-term care homes. This ethnographic study explored how female care staff (e.g. providers, supervisors) understood and responded to sexual harassment from residents within the regulatory context of residential long-term care in Ontario, Canada. Data were collected from March 2017 to March 2018 and included observations and interviews with 26 staff, as well as legal, educational, and other regulatory documents. Management strategies were found to be ineffective, and despite staff acknowledgement of the negative impact of sexual harassment, they expressed tolerance of their persistent vulnerability. Drawing on critical realism, our analysis demonstrates a complex interrelationship between staff's reflexive deliberations about their experiences, health and safety regulations, and normative assumptions underpinning the education and training that they receive. Understanding the vulnerability of staff to sexual harassment at the intersection of regulation and reflexivity has important implications for the development of an effective multi-faceted approach to prevention.

Suggested Citation

  • Grigorovich, Alisa & Kontos, Pia, 2019. "A critical realist exploration of the vulnerability of staff to sexual harassment in residential long-term care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:238:y:2019:i:c:23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112356
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619303375
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112356?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Rodwell & Defne Demir, 2012. "Oppression and exposure as differentiating predictors of types of workplace violence for nurses," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(15‐16), pages 2296-2305, August.
    2. Shu-Fen Niu & Shu-Fen Kuo & Hsiu-Ting Tsai & Ching-Chiu Kao & Victoria Traynor & Kuei-Ru Chou, 2019. "Prevalence of workplace violent episodes experienced by nurses in acute psychiatric settings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Laura Good & Rae Cooper, 2016. "‘But It's Your Job To Be Friendly’: Employees Coping With and Contesting Sexual Harassment from Customers in the Service Sector," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 447-469, September.
    4. Banerjee, Albert & Daly, Tamara & Armstrong, Pat & Szebehely, Marta & Armstrong, Hugh & Lafrance, Stirling, 2012. "Structural violence in long-term, residential care for older people: Comparing Canada and Scandinavia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 390-398.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Habran, Yves & Küpers, Wendelin & Weber, Jean-Christophe, 2024. "Reconceiving vulnerabilities in relations of care how to account for and deal with carers’ vulnerabilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Syed, Iffath Unissa, 2020. "Racism, racialization, and health equity in Canadian residential long term care: A case study in Toronto," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    2. Whittle, Henry J. & Palar, Kartika & Hufstedler, Lee Lemus & Seligman, Hilary K. & Frongillo, Edward A. & Weiser, Sheri D., 2015. "Food insecurity, chronic illness, and gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area: An example of structural violence in United States public policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 154-161.
    3. Queen Emwenkeke Usadolo & Yvonne Brunetto & Silvia Nelson & Patrick Gillett, 2022. "Connecting the Dots: Perceived Organization Support, Motive Fulfilment, Job Satisfaction, and Affective Commitment Among Volunteers," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.
    4. Hsueh, Loretta & Layland, Eric K. & Kipke, Michele D. & Bray, Bethany C., 2021. "Linking racism and homonegativity to healthcare system distrust among young men of color who have sex with men: Evidence from the Healthy Young Men's (HYM) study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    5. Pat O’Connor & Margaret Hodgins & Dorian R. Woods & Elisa Wallwaey & Rachel Palmen & Marieke Van Den Brink & Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt, 2021. "Organisational Characteristics That Facilitate Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Higher Education?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Mareike Adler & Sylvie Vincent-Höper & Claudia Vaupel & Sabine Gregersen & Anja Schablon & Albert Nienhaus, 2021. "Sexual Harassment by Patients, Clients, and Residents: Investigating Its Prevalence, Frequency and Associations with Impaired Well-Being among Social and Healthcare Workers in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Julia Coffey & David Farrugia & Lisa Adkins & Steven Threadgold, 2018. "Gender, Sexuality, and Risk in the Practice of Affective Labour for Young Women in Bar Work," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(4), pages 728-743, December.
    8. Yang-Chin Chang & Mei-Chi Hsu & Wen-Chen Ouyang, 2022. "Effects of Integrated Workplace Violence Management Intervention on Occupational Coping Self-Efficacy, Goal Commitment, Attitudes, and Confidence in Emergency Department Nurses: A Cluster-Randomized C," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-17, February.
    9. Vijayalakshmi, Akshaya & Dev, Pritha & Kulkarni, Vaibhavi, 2022. "Domestic workers and sexual harassment in India: Examining preferred response strategies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    10. DeVerteuil, Geoffrey, 2015. "Conceptualizing violence for health and medical geography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 216-222.
    11. Herron, R.V. & Wrathall, M.A., 2018. "Putting responsive behaviours in place: Examining how formal and informal carers understand the actions of people with dementia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 9-15.
    12. Hsiu-Fen Hsieh & I-Chin Huang & Yi Liu & Wen-Ling Chen & Yi-Wen Lee & Hsin-Tien Hsu, 2020. "The Effects of Biofeedback Training and Smartphone-Delivered Biofeedback Training on Resilience, Occupational Stress, and Depressive Symptoms among Abused Psychiatric Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-11, April.
    13. de Silva, M.W. Amarasiri & Albert, Steven M. & Jayasekara, J.M.K.B., 2017. "Structural violence and chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in Sri Lanka," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 184-195.
    14. Shi‐Hong Zhao & Yu Shi & Zhi‐Nan Sun & Feng‐Zhe Xie & Jing‐Hui Wang & Shu‐E Zhang & Tian‐Yu Gou & Xuan‐Ye Han & Tao Sun & Li‐Hua Fan, 2018. "Impact of workplace violence against nurses’ thriving at work, job satisfaction and turnover intention: A cross‐sectional study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(13-14), pages 2620-2632, July.
    15. Kate Grosser & Meagan Tyler, 2022. "Sexual Harassment, Sexual Violence and CSR: Radical Feminist Theory and a Human Rights Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 217-232, May.
    16. Meraiah Foley & Sarah Oxenbridge & Rae Cooper & Marian Baird, 2022. "‘I’ll never be one of the boys’: Gender harassment of women working as pilots and automotive tradespeople," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1676-1691, September.
    17. Emily H. Starr, 2022. "“Women of ill repute”: Pariah femininities, retaliatory violence, and the negotiation of rebel identities among women bartenders," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 800-816, May.
    18. Sylvie Vincent-Höper & Mareike Adler & Maie Stein & Claudia Vaupel & Albert Nienhaus, 2020. "Sexually Harassing Behaviors from Patients or Clients and Care Workers’ Mental Health: Development and Validation of a Measure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-17, April.
    19. Mei-Chi Hsu & Mei-Hsien Chou & Wen-Chen Ouyang, 2022. "Dilemmas and Repercussions of Workplace Violence against Emergency Nurses: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-16, February.
    20. John Rodwell, 2017. "New development: Bullying in a reforming context—a holistic, layered model of the interpersonal interaction," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(5), pages 357-362, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:238:y:2019:i:c:23. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.