Bullying and harassment in the workplace

developments in theory research and practice 2nd

Edition Ståle Einarsen - PDF Download (2025)

https://ebookultra.com/download/bullying-and-harassment-in-the-
workplace-developments-in-theory-research-and-practice-2nd-
edition-stale-einarsen/

Visit ebookultra.com today to download the complete set of

ebooks or textbooks
 We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebookultra.com
to discover even more!

Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace

International Perspectives in Research and Practice 1st
Edition Stale Einarsen (Editor)
https://ebookultra.com/download/bullying-and-emotional-abuse-in-the-
workplace-international-perspectives-in-research-and-practice-1st-
edition-stale-einarsen-editor/

Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace Stale

Einarsen

https://ebookultra.com/download/bullying-and-emotional-abuse-in-the-
workplace-stale-einarsen/

Advances in Cancer Research Vol 83 1st Edition George

Klein (Editor)

https://ebookultra.com/download/advances-in-cancer-research-
vol-83-1st-edition-george-klein-editor/

Genetic and Production Innovations in Field Crop

Technology New Developments in Theory and Practice 1st
Edition Manjit S. Kang (Author)
https://ebookultra.com/download/genetic-and-production-innovations-in-
field-crop-technology-new-developments-in-theory-and-practice-1st-
edition-manjit-s-kang-author/
Musical Creativity Multidisciplinary Research in Theory
and Practice 1st Edition Irene Deliege

https://ebookultra.com/download/musical-creativity-multidisciplinary-
research-in-theory-and-practice-1st-edition-irene-deliege/

Qualitative Research Theory Method and Practice 2nd

Edition David Silverman (Ed.)

https://ebookultra.com/download/qualitative-research-theory-method-
and-practice-2nd-edition-david-silverman-ed/

Personal Epistemology in the Classroom Theory Research and

Implications for Practice Lisa D. Bendixen

https://ebookultra.com/download/personal-epistemology-in-the-
classroom-theory-research-and-implications-for-practice-lisa-d-
bendixen/

Psychotherapy Supervision 2nd ed Theory Research and

Practice 2nd Edition Allen K. Hess

https://ebookultra.com/download/psychotherapy-supervision-2nd-ed-
theory-research-and-practice-2nd-edition-allen-k-hess/

Social Class and Classism in the Helping Professions

Research Theory and Practice 1st Edition William Ming Liu

https://ebookultra.com/download/social-class-and-classism-in-the-
helping-professions-research-theory-and-practice-1st-edition-william-
ming-liu/
Bullying and harassment in the workplace developments
in theory research and practice 2nd Edition Ståle
Einarsen Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Ståle Einarsen, Cary L. Cooper, Helge Hoel, Dieter Zapf
ISBN(s): 9781439804902, 1439804907
Edition: 2
File Details: PDF, 3.80 MB
Year: 2010
Language: english
 Bullying and Harassment
in the Workplace
Developments in Theory,
Research, and Practice

Second Edition

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000.indd i 8/13/10 9:45:59 AM

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000.indd ii 8/13/10 9:46:02 AM
 Bullying and Harassment
in the Workplace
Developments in Theory,
Research, and Practice

Second Edition

Edited by
Ståle Einarsen • Helge Hoel
Dieter Zapf • Cary L. Cooper

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000.indd iii 8/13/10 9:46:02 AM

CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4398-0490-2 (Ebook-PDF)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and
publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication
and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any
copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any
future reprint.

Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information stor-
age or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.

For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copy-
right.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222
Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that pro-
vides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a pho-
tocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
 Contents

Preface .................................................................................................................... vii

Editors ................................................................................................................... xiii
Contributors ...........................................................................................................xv

Section I The Nature of the Problem

1. The Concept of Bullying and Harassment at Work:

The European Tradition ................................................................................3
Ståle Einarsen, Helge Hoel, Dieter Zapf, and Cary L. Cooper

2. North American Perspectives on Hostile Behaviors and

Bullying at Work ........................................................................................... 41
Loraleigh Keashly and Karen Jagatic

Section II Empirical Evidence

3. Empirical Findings on Prevalence and Risk Groups of Bullying

in the Workplace ........................................................................................... 75
Dieter Zapf, Jordi Escartín, Ståle Einarsen, Helge Hoel, and Maarit Vartia

4. Individual Consequences of Workplace Bullying/Mobbing ............ 107

Annie Hogh, Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen, and Åse Marie Hansen

5. Organisational Effects of Workplace Bullying .................................... 129

Helge Hoel, Michael J. Sheehan, Cary L. Cooper, and Ståle Einarsen

6. Measuring Exposure to Workplace Bullying ........................................ 149

Morten Birkeland Nielsen, Guy Notelaers, and Ståle Einarsen

Section III Explaining the Problem

7. Individual Antecedents of Bullying: Victims and Perpetrators ....... 177

Dieter Zapf and Ståle Einarsen

8. Social Antecedents of Bullying: A Social Interactionist

Perspective ................................................................................................... 201
Joel H. Neuman and Robert A. Baron

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000toc.indd v 8/13/10 9:48:30 AM

 vi Contents

9. Organisational Causes of Workplace Bullying .................................... 227

Denise Salin and Helge Hoel

10. Sexual Harassment Research in the United States .............................. 245

Kimberly T. Schneider, John B. Pryor, and Louise F. Fitzgerald

11. Discrimination and Bullying ................................................................... 267

Duncan Lewis, Sabir Giga, and Helge Hoel

12. An Industrial Relations Perspective of Workplace Bullying ............ 283

David Beale

13. Workplace Bullying as the Dark Side of Whistleblowing ................. 301

Stig Berge Matthiesen, Brita Bjørkelo, and Ronald J. Burke

Section IV Managing the Problem

14. Managing Workplace Bullying: The Role of Policies ......................... 327

Charlotte Rayner and Duncan Lewis

15. Investigating Complaints of Bullying and Harassment..................... 341

Helge Hoel and Ståle Einarsen

16. Interventions for the Prevention and Management of Bullying

at Work ......................................................................................................... 359
Maarit Vartia and Stavroula Leka

17. Workplace Bullying: The Role for Counselling ................................... 381

Noreen Tehrani

18. Inpatient Treatment of Bullying Victims .............................................. 397

Josef Schwickerath and Dieter Zapf

19. Conflict, Conflict Resolution, and Bullying .........................................423

Loraleigh Keashly and Branda L. Nowell

20. Challenging Workplace Bullying in the United States:

An Activist and Public Communication Approach ............................. 447
Gary Namie, Ruth Namie, and Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik

21. Workplace Bullying and the Law: Emerging Global Responses ...... 469
David C. Yamada

Index ..................................................................................................................... 485

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000toc.indd vi 8/13/10 9:48:30 AM

 Preface

In 2003 we published the first comprehensive international volume on bul-

lying, emotional abuse, and harassment in the workplace under the title
Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace: International Perspectives in
Research and Practice (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, and Cooper, 2003). The book soon
became a highly cited source of knowledge for this new and burgeoning
field of research and practice. The present book is a much-needed revision
and update of our original 2003 book. The present edition has, in addition to
a new title in line with its current content, a range of new chapters together
with a collection of much-revised and expanded chapters from the original
book. Although now highly revised and updated, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8,
9, 10, 19, and 21 were also part of the original 2003 book. The remaining 11
chapters are new to the present edition. For those wanting a comprehensive
overview of the field, we can still advise you to read the 14 chapters of the
original book that do not form a part of the present edition.
Research into bullying and harassment at work, primarily of a nonphysi-
cal nature, as distinct from sexual and racial harassment, started in the early
1990s, expanded in the late 1990s, and really took off after the publication
of our edited book, and particularly so in Europe, Australia, and North
America. Later on interest also spread to South America, with Asia slowly
catching up. Already in 1999 the field was nominated by some of the editors
of this book as the research topic of the 1990s (Hoel, Rayner, and Cooper,
1999), a conclusion that may seem somewhat hasty in light of recent develop-
ments in this field. A meta-analysis of methodological moderators of esti-
mates of prevalence rates of bullying (Nielsen et al., in press) showed that of
the 86 independent studies on prevalence of workplace bullying identified,
82% were published after the turn of the century, with 15% published in the
1990s and less than 3% published in the 1980s. In addition to this explosion in
the sheer quantity of studies published during the last 10 years, a qualitative
development has taken place regarding breadth in the perspectives taken,
the theoretical depth of the analysis provided, and the methodological rigor
of the empirical contributions. The present edition of the book is a conse-
quence and a reflection of this recent development in the field.
The main aim of this book is to present the reader with a comprehensive
review of the literature, the empirical findings, the theoretical developments,
and the experience and advice of leading international academics and prac-
titioners in the field of bullying and harassment at work. In this volume, the
reader will find chapters examining the concept of bullying and harassment
at work itself, as well as its measurement. The reader will also find chapters
that document the existence and consequences of the problem. The book also
explores a variety of explanatory models as well as presents the available

vii

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000e.indd vii 8/13/10 9:47:18 AM

 viii Preface

empirical evidence that may help us understand where, when, and why bul-
lying develops. Lastly, the book contains a wide range of contributions on
the possible remedies that may exist to prevent and minimize the problem,
to manage it when it occurs, and to heal the wounds and scars it may have
left on those exposed.
The book has been structured in four sections: (I) the nature of the prob-
lem, (II) empirical evidence, (III) explaining the problem, and (IV) managing
the problem. In Section I, the concept of bullying and harassment at work
itself is introduced and discussed. First, the editors review and discuss the
original European tradition on the issue of bullying and harassment at work.
Chapter 1 starts by looking at the development and increasing prominence of
the concept in Europe. Then discussed are the various key defining character-
istics of bullying, such as frequency, duration, power balance, status of bullies
and victims, objective versus subjective bullying, and interpersonal versus
organisational bullying. This chapter also discusses those conceptual models
of bullying that have so far dominated European research on bullying.
In Chapter 2, Keashly and Jagatic review recent research findings, as well
as key conceptual and methodological challenges, from the North American
literature on hostile behaviours at work that are highly relevant to the issues
of workplace bullying. An important aim of this chapter is to facilitate aware-
ness of and communication between the various literatures on hostile work-
place interactions.
The next section of the book, titled “Empirical Evidence,” contains four
chapters that review and summarise empirical evidence on bullying at
work. Chapter 3, by Zapf, Escartín, Einarsen, Hoel, and Vartia, summarises
descriptive empirical findings, looking at such issues as the frequency and
duration of bullying, the gender and status of bullies and victims, how
bullying is distributed across different sectors, and the use of different
kinds of bullying strategies. Chapter 4, by Hogh, Mikkelsen, and Hansen,
reviews the most recent literature on the potential negative effects of bul-
lying on the health and well-being of the individual victim, as well as sug-
gests theoretical explanations for the relationships that have been found to
exist between exposure to bullying and symptoms of ill health. In Chapter
5, Hoel, Sheehan, Cooper, and Einarsen review the emerging evidence of
the relationship between bullying at work and negative organisational out-
comes, such as absenteeism, high turnover, and low productivity. In the last
chapter of this section of the book, Nielsen, Notelaers, and Einarsen provide
a comprehensive review of the quantitative measurement of bullying and
how to estimate prevalence rates. This chapter provides an overview of the
many options that exist when measuring exposure to workplace bullying in
survey research as well as discusses the methodological challenges associ-
ated with them. It also provides guidelines for interpreting and understand-
ing the results of various studies.
So far, much work in the field of bullying at work has been of an
empirical nature. A major aim of this book has also been to develop our

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000e.indd viii 8/13/10 9:47:18 AM

 Preface ix

theoretical understanding of the problem. This is also particularly the aim

of Section III, “Explaining the Problem.” The first chapter in this section, by
Zapf and Einarsen, discusses the role of individual antecedents of bullying at
work. The issue of individual causes of bullying at work has been a hot issue
for debate in both the popular press and the scientific community. While
some argue that individual antecedents, such as the personalities of bullies
and victims, may indeed be considered as possible causes of bullying, others
have disregarded totally the role of individual characteristics in this respect.
In Chapter 7, Zapf and Einarsen provide an in-depth discussion on the role
of individual factors among both victims and bullies. Chapter 8 presents a
social interactionist approach to bullying behaviours, looking at social and
situational antecedents of aggressive behaviours at work. Here, Neuman and
Baron address a key question: why do societal norms against aggression fail
to apply, or apply only weakly, where workplace bullying is concerned? The
authors draw from a substantial literature devoted to interpersonal aggres-
sion and examine what they believe to be important social antecedents of
bullying. In Chapter 9, Salin and Hoel examine potential organisational
antecedents of bullying, focusing on quality of work environment, leader-
ship, organisational culture, and the impact of change.
Then, Schneider, Pryor, and Fitzgerald, in Chapter 10, provide a broad
overview regarding a particular kind of harassment at work, namely, sex-
ual harassment. Again, a special focus is on possible explanations for the
problem. Because sexual harassment has, at least until recently, been a more
extensively researched issue than workplace bullying, the field also has much
to offer the more general field of bullying and harassment at work. Another
related field is that of discrimination. In Chapter 11, Lewis, Giga, and Hoel
discuss how and why bullying and discrimination can be so readily colo-
cated. The authors claim that if one considers organisations as a microcosm
of society, then many economic, social, political, historical, and global issues
impacting intergroup relationships and experiences of discrimination out-
side work are just as likely to have an impact on experiences at work, and in
particular in cases of workplace bullying.
The next chapter, by David Beale, discusses how workplace bullying
may be understood from an industrial relations perspective. In this chap-
ter, Beale argues for a more contextualised and interdisciplinary approach
to the study of workplace bullying, in his case drawing from the very
developed field of industrial relations and in particular three earlier con-
tributions, that of the hitherto unknown Norwegian pioneer Jon Sjøtveit,
the contribution in the original 2003 version of this book by Ironside and
Seifert, as well as the mobilisation theory of Kelly. Lastly, in this section
of the book, Matthiesen, Bjørkelo, and Burke look at the interrelationships
between workplace bullying and whistleblowing in organisations. The
authors look at bullying as one of the major downsides and negative conse-
quences after whistleblowing at work. That is, severe bullying may develop
as a retaliation against an employee who has reported on some kind of

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000e.indd ix 8/13/10 9:47:18 AM

 x Preface

observed wrongdoing in the organisation, be it to senior management or to

an external body.
A major aim of this book is to provide some examples of how bullying
and harassment at work may be prevented, managed, and healed. Therefore,
Section IV, “Managing the Problem,” contains eight chapters written
by leading practitioners and researchers in the field. First, in Chapter 14,
Rayner and Lewis discuss the role of antibullying policies in an organisa-
tion’s obligation to manage the problem. In this chapter, they discuss how
such policies may be developed, implemented, and monitored, as well as
look at the pitfalls and limitation of such policies. Chapter 15 outlines the
process of investigating complaints of bullying. Here, Hoel and Einarsen
describe the basic principles of how to conduct a fair and proper internal
investigation in response to complaints about bullying and harassment at
work. The chapter also discusses some of the obstacles often encountered
in providing a fair hearing in such cases. Chapter 16, by Vartia and Leka,
examines the different types of interventions and strategies used in the pre-
vention and management of bullying in organisations as well as discusses
their effectiveness. The chapter also looks at the key principles of planning
and implementation of interventions for the prevention and management
of bullying.
In Chapters 17 and 18, the role of counselling and treatment of targets of
bullying is addressed. First, Tehrani looks at various counselling strategies
that may be adapted when working with individual targets and perpetra-
tors, looking at the very nature of counselling and what a targeted employee
might expect when attending an assessment and counselling session. The
argument is made for an integrated approach to counselling in cases of bul-
lying, including the need to counsel and support the organisation in dealing
with bullying in a positive and creative way. Chapter 18 takes this concept
a step further to describe how one may treat the health-related aftereffects
of bullying that haunt many targets of severe bullying. In this chapter,
Schwickerath and Zapf describe the procedures and principles of such treat-
ment, as well as the results of the treatment based on an inpatient clinic in
Germany specialising in the treatment of victims of bullying.
In Chapter 19, Keashly and Nowell discuss the relationships between the
concepts bullying and conflict and consider the value of a conflict perspective
in the study and amelioration of workplace bullying. In Chapter 20, Namie,
Namie, and Lutgen-Sandvik share their theoretical basis and personal expe-
riences when adopting an activist and public communication approach to
challenge workplace bullying on a national level. The last contribution of
the book identifies and discusses some of the central themes concerning bul-
lying and the law. In this chapter, Yamada also investigates some national
examples of how the law is used in order to prevent and respond to this
problem.
As editors, we are delighted about the enthusiasm we encountered when
approaching authors invited to participate in this revision, update, and

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000e.indd x 8/13/10 9:47:18 AM

 Preface xi

extension of our original 2003 book. We believe that as part of a collective of

leading academics and practitioners in this field, our contributors together
provide the reader with the best and most comprehensive information cur-
rently available to understand and counteract workplace bullying. Therefore,
we hope that this book will be a useful tool for students and academics as
well as practitioners in this intriguing and difficult problem area.

References
Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., and Cooper C. L. (eds.) (2003) Bullying and emotional
abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice. London:
Taylor & Francis.
Hoel, H., Rayner, C., and Cooper, C. L. (1999) Workplace bullying. In C. L. Cooper and
I. T. Robertson (eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychol-
ogy, vol. 14 (pp. 195–230). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
Nielsen, M. B., Matthiesen, S. B., and Einarsen S. (in press) The impact of methodolog-
ical moderators on prevalence rates of workplace bullying: A meta-analysis.
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000e.indd xi 8/13/10 9:47:18 AM

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000e.indd xii 8/13/10 9:47:18 AM
 Editors

Ståle Einarsen is Professor in Work and Organizational Psychology at the

University of Bergen, Norway, where he also acts as Head of the Bergen
Bullying Research Group. Einarsen is one of the Scandinavian pioneers in
research on workplace bullying and has conducted a wide range of studies
related to its very nature, its prevalence, its antecedents, and its consequences,
as well as its measurement. He has published journal articles, book chapters,
and books on issues related to workplace bullying, leadership, psychosocial
factors at work, creativity and innovation, and whistleblowing. With Helge
Hoel, he has developed methodology and training for investigating bullying
complaints and has acted as adviser to the Norwegian government regard-
ing the prevention and management of bullying in Norwegian working life.

Helge Hoel (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Work Psychology at Manchester

Business School, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He has carried
out several large-scale research projects on workplace bullying, including
the first nationwide survey (with Cary L. Cooper), and contributed to a num-
ber of books, academic journal articles, and reports of violence, bullying, and
harassment. This includes work commissioned by the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) and by the European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions. His current research also involves cross-
disciplinary work, exploring bullying in the context of industrial relations,
law, sexuality, and masculinity. He has developed and delivered courses in
the investigation of bullying complaints (with Ståle Einarsen) and acted as
adviser to the Norwegian government.

Dieter Zapf is Professor for Work and Organizational Psychology at the

Department of Psychology, J. W. Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany, and
Visiting Professor at Manchester Business School, University of Manchester,
United Kingdom. He studied psychology and theology and received his
diploma in psychology and his PhD from Free University of Berlin, and his
habilitation from Giessen University. He has carried out research projects on
workplace bullying for more than 15 years, published a number of journal
articles and book chapters, and organised symposia on bullying at various
international conferences. Other research interests include stress at work, job
analysis, human errors and emotion work in service jobs, and emotions in
leadership.

Cary L. Cooper is Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology

and Health at Lancaster University Management School in England. He has
written or edited over 100 books and over 400 scholarly articles in the field

xiii

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000f.indd xiii 8/13/10 9:47:38 AM

 xiv Editors

of occupational stress, women at work, health and well-being, and bully-

ing in the workplace. He is the Founding President of the British Academy
of Management, has served on the Board of Governors of the Academy
of Management, and is currently President of the British Association for
Counselling and Psychotherapy as well as Chair of the Academy of Social
Sciences (an umbrella body of 37 learned societies in the social sciences).
He was awarded the honor of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by
the Queen in 2001 for his contribution to occupational and organizational
health.

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000f.indd xiv 8/13/10 9:47:38 AM

 Contributors

Robert A. Baron Helge Hoel

Oklahoma State University University of Manchester
Stillwater, Oklahoma Manchester, United Kingdom

David Beale Annie Hogh

University of Manchester University of Copenhagen
Manchester, United Kingdom Copenhagen, Denmark
Brita Bjørkelo Karen Jagatic
University of Bergen Private Consultant
Bergen, Norway Hoboken, New Jersey
Ronald J. Burke
Loraleigh Keashly
York University
Wayne State University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Detroit, Michigan
Cary L. Cooper
Stavroula Leka
University of Lancaster
University of Nottingham
Lancaster, United Kingdom
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Ståle Einarsen
University of Bergen Duncan Lewis
Bergen, Norway University of Glamorgan
Pontypridd, Wales,
Jordi Escartín United Kingdom
University of Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik
The University of New Mexico
Louise F. Fitzgerald Albuquerque, New Mexico
University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign Stig Berge Matthiesen
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois University of Bergen
Bergen, Norway
Sabir Giga
University of Bradford Eva Gemzøe Mikkelsen
Bradford, United Kingdom CRECEA
Aarhus, Denmark
Åse Marie Hansen
National Research Centre for the Gary Namie
Working Environment Workplace Bullying Institute
Copenhagen, Denmark Bellingham, Washington

xv

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000g.indd xv 8/13/10 9:48:14 AM

 xvi Contributors

Ruth Namie Kimberly T. Schneider

Workplace Bullying Institute Illinois State University
Bellingham, Washington Normal, Illinois

Joel H. Neuman Josef Schwickerath

State University of New York at AHG Klinik Berus
New Paltz Überherrn-Berus, Germany
New Paltz, New York
Michael J. Sheehan
Morten Birkeland Nielsen University of Glamorgan
University of Bergen Pontypridd, Wales,
Bergen, Norway United Kingdom

Guy Notelaers Noreen Tehrani

University of Bergen Noreen Tehrani Associates Ltd.
Bergen, Norway Twickenham, Middlesex,
United Kingdom
Branda L. Nowell
North Carolina State University Maarit Vartia
Raleigh, North Carolina Finnish Institute of Occupational
Health
John B. Pryor Helsinki, Finland
Illinois State University
Normal, Illinois David C. Yamada
Suffolk University Law School
Charlotte Rayner Boston, Massachusetts
University of Portsmouth
Portsmouth, United Kingdom Dieter Zapf
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Denise Salin University
Hanken School of Economics Frankfurt, Germany
Helsinki, Finland

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C000g.indd xvi 8/13/10 9:48:14 AM

 Section I

The Nature of the Problem

TAF-K10270-10-0302-S001.indd 1 8/13/10 10:03:00 AM

TAF-K10270-10-0302-S001.indd 2 8/13/10 10:03:00 AM
 1
The Concept of Bullying and Harassment
at Work: The European Tradition

Ståle Einarsen, Helge Hoel, Dieter Zapf, and Cary L. Cooper

CONTENTS
Introduction .............................................................................................................3
The Development of a New Concept: Some Historical Notes .........................5
A Case of Moral Panic? .................................................................................7
From Organisational Psychology to an Interdisciplinary Field ..............9
The Concept of Bullying at Work..........................................................................9
Target Orientation ........................................................................................ 10
The Frequency of Negative Behaviours ................................................... 11
The Duration of Bullying ............................................................................ 12
The Nature of Behaviours Involved .......................................................... 13
The Imbalance of Power between the Parties .......................................... 15
Subjective versus Objective Bullying ........................................................ 16
Intentionality of Bullying............................................................................ 18
Interpersonal versus Organisational Bullying ......................................... 20
Bullying as a Process ................................................................................... 21
A Definition of Bullying at Work ...............................................................22
Conceptual Models of Bullying at Work ........................................................... 23
The Leymann Model ................................................................................... 23
Predatory Bullying....................................................................................... 25
Dispute-Related Bullying ........................................................................... 26
A Theoretical Framework .................................................................................... 28
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 31
References............................................................................................................... 32

Introduction
During the 1990s, the concept of bullying or mobbing at work found res-
onance within large sections of the European working population as well
as in the academic community. A wide range of popular as well as aca-
demic books and articles were published in many European languages (e.g.,
Ege, 1996; Einarsen et al., 1994b; Field, 1996; Leymann, 1993; Niedl, 1995;
3

TAF-K10270-10-0302-C001.indd 3 8/13/10 9:49:45 AM

Other documents randomly have
different content
monthly wage by the company,—but Bessie Andrews found herself
every day looking over the vacant forms in the little schoolhouse and
telling herself that she had failed—that she had not reached the
people who most needed it.
More than once had she been tempted to confess her defeat,
resign the place, and return to Richmond; yet the sympathy and
encouragement of Jabez Smith, the director who had secured her
appointment, gave her strength to keep up the fight. A simple,
homely man, a justice of the peace and postmaster of Wentworth,
he had welcomed her kindly, and she had found his house a place of
refuge.
“You’ll git discouraged,” he had said to her the first day, “but don’t
you give up. Th’ people up here ain’t th’ kind you’ve been used to,
an’ it takes ’em some little time t’ git acquainted. You jest keep at it,
an’ you’ll win out in the end.”
There was another, too, who spoke words of hope and comfort—
the Rev. Robert Bayliss, minister of the little church on the hillside,
who had come, like herself, a pilgrim into this wilderness.
“You are doing finely,” he would say. “Why, look at me. I’ve been
here four years, and am almost as far from my goal as you are; but
I’m not going to give up the fight till I get every miner and every
miner’s wife into that church. As yet, I haven’t got a dozen of them.”
And as she glanced askant at his firm mouth and determined chin,
she decided inwardly that this was the kind of man who always won
his battles, whether of the spirit or of the flesh.
As she stood there in the school-house door, thinking of all this
and looking out across the valley, she heard the whistle blow at the
drift-mouth, a signal that no more coal would be weighed that day;
and in a few moments she saw a line of men coming down the
hillside toward her. She waited to see them pass,—grimy, weary,
perspiring, fresh from the mine and the never-ending battle with the
great veins of coal,—and she noted sadly how many boys there were
among them. Some of them glanced at her shyly and touched their
hats, but the most went by without heeding her, the younger, the
driver-boys, laughing and jesting among themselves, the older
tramping along in the silence of utter fatigue. She watched them as
they went, and then turned slowly back into the room and picked up
her hat.

“SHE TURNED QUICKLY AND SAW STANDING THERE ONE OF

 THE BOYS.”

“Please, ma’am—” said a timid voice at the door.

She turned quickly and saw standing there one of the boys who
had passed a moment before.
“Yes?” she questioned, encouragingly. “Come in, won’t you?”
The boy took off his cap and stepped bashfully across the
threshold.
“Sit down here,” she said, and herself took the seat opposite.
“Now what can I do for you?”
He glanced up into her eyes. There was no mistaking their
kindliness, and he gathered a shade more confidence.
“Please, ma’am,” he said, “I wanted t’ ask you t’ read this bill t’
me,” and he produced from his pocket a gaudy circus poster. “They’s
been put up down at th’ deepot,” he added, in explanation, “but
none of us boys kin read ’em.”
She took the bill from him with quick sympathy.
“Of course I’ll read it to you,” she cried. And she proceeded to
recount the wonders of “Bashford’s Great and Only Menagerie and
Hippodrome” as described by the poster. Most of the high-flown
language was, of course, quite beyond the boy’s understanding, but
he sat with round eyes fixed on her face till she had finished. It was
a minute before he could speak.
“What is that thing?” he asked at last, pointing to a great,
unwieldy beast with wide-open mouth.
“That’s a hippopotamus.”
“A—a what?” he asked wonderingly.
“A hippopotamus—a river-horse.”
“A river-horse,” he repeated; and his eyes grew rounder than ever.
“A horse what lives in th’ river? But it ain’t a horse,” he added,
looking at it again to make certain. “It ain’t nothin’ like a horse.”
“No,” said Miss Andrews, smiling, “it’s not a horse. That’s only a
name for it. See, here it is,” and she pointed to the line below the
picture. “‘The Hippopotamus, the Great African River Horse.’”
 He gazed at the line a moment in silence. Then he sighed.
“I must go,” he said, and reached out his hand for the bill.
“But you haven’t told me your name yet,” she protested. “What is
your name?”
“Tommy Remington,” he answered, his shyness back upon him in
an instant.
“And your father’s a miner?”
He nodded. She looked at him a moment without speaking,
rapidly considering how she might say best what she wished to say.
“Tommy,” she began, “wouldn’t you like to learn to read all this for
yourself—all these books, all these stories,” and she waved her hand
toward the little shelf above her desk. “It is a splendid thing—to
know how to read!”
He looked at her with eyes wide opened.
“But I couldn’t!” he gasped incredulously. “None of th’ boys kin.
Why, even none of th’ men kin—none I know.”
“Oh, yes, you could!” she cried. “Any one can. The reason none of
the other boys can is because they have never tried, and the men
probably never had a good chance. Of course you can’t learn if you
don’t try. But it’s not at all difficult, when one really wants to learn. If
you’ll only come and let me teach you!”
He glanced again at her face and then out across the valley. The
shadows were deepening along the river, and above the trees upon
the mountain-side great columns of white mist circled slowly
upward.
“Promise me you’ll come,” she repeated.
The boy looked back at her, and she saw the light in his eyes.
“My father—” he began, and stopped.
“I’ll see your father,” she said impetuously. “Only you must tell him
you want to come, and ask him yourself. Promise me you’ll do that.”
There was no resisting her in her great earnestness.
“I promise,” he whispered, and stooped to pick up his cap, which
had fallen from his trembling fingers.
 “If he refuses, I will see him to-morrow myself,” she said.
“Remember, you are going to learn to read and write and to do
many other things. Good night, Tommy.”
“Good night, ma’am,” he answered with uncertain voice, and
hastened away.
She watched him until the gathering darkness hid him, and then
turned back, picked up her hat again, locked the door, and hurried
down the path with singing heart. It was her first real victory—for
she was certain it would prove a victory—and she felt as the traveler
feels who, toiling wearily across a great waste of Alpine snow and
ice,—shivering, desolate,—comes suddenly upon a delicate flower,
looking up at him from the dreary way with a face of hope and
comfort.
 CHAPTER II
THE FIRST SHOT OF THE BATTLE

Tommy Remington, meanwhile, trudged on through the gathering

darkness, his heart big with purpose. Heretofore the mastery of the
art of reading had appeared to him, when he considered the subject
at all, as a thing requiring such tremendous effort as few people
were capable of. Certainly he, who knew little beyond the rudiments
of mining and the management of a mine mule, could never hope to
solve the mystery of those rows of queer-looking characters he had
seen sometimes in almanacs and old newspapers, and more recently
on the circus poster he carried in his pocket. But now a new and
charming vista was of a sudden opened to him. The teacher had
assured him that it was quite easy to learn to read,—that any one
could do so who really tried,—and he rammed his fists deep down in
his pockets and drew a long breath at the sheer wonder of the thing.
It is difficult, perhaps, for a boy brought up, as most boys are,
within sound of a school bell, where school-going begins inevitably
in the earliest years, where every one he knows can read and write
as a matter of course, and where books and papers form part of the
possessions of every household, to understand the awe with which
Tommy Remington thought over the task he was about to
undertake. Such a boy may have seen occasionally the queer
picture-writing in front of a Chinese laundry or on the outside of
packages of tea, and wondered what such funny marks could
possibly mean. To Tommy English appeared no less queer and
difficult than Chinese, and he would have attacked the latter with
equal confidence—or, more correctly, with an equal lack of
confidence.
But he had little time to ponder over all this, for a few minutes’
walk brought him to the dingy cabin on the hillside which—with a
similar dwelling back in the Pennsylvania coal-fields—was the only
home he had ever known. His father had thrown away his youth in
the Pennsylvania mines while the industry was yet almost in its
infancy and the miners’ wages were twice or thrice those that could
be earned by any other kind of manual labor—the high pay counter-
balancing, in a way, the great danger which in those days was a part
of coal-mining. Mr. Remington had, by good fortune, escaped the
dangers, and had lived to see the importation of foreign laborers to
the Pennsylvania fields,—Huns, Slavs, Poles, and what not,—who
prospered on wages on which an Anglo-Saxon would starve.
Besides, the dangers of the work had been very materially reduced,
and to the mine-owner it seemed only right that the wages should
be reduced with them, especially since competition had become so
close that profits were cut in half, or sometimes even wiped out
altogether.
It was just at the time when matters were at their worst that the
great West Virginia coal-fields were discovered and a railroad built
through the mountains. Good wages were offered experienced
miners, and Mr. Remington was one of the first to move his family
into the new region—into the very cabin, indeed, where he still lived,
and which at that time had been just completed. The unusual
thickness of the seams of coal, their accessibility, and the ease with
which the coal could be got to market, together with the purity and
value of the coal itself, all combined to render it possible for the
miner to make good wages, and for a time Remington prospered—as
much, that is, as a coal-miner can ever prosper, which means merely
that he can provide his family with shelter from the cold, with
enough to eat, and with clothes to wear, and at the same time keep
out of debt. But the discovery of new fields and the ever-growing
competition for the market had gradually tended to decrease wages
until they were again almost at the point where one man could not
support a family, and his boys—mere children sometimes—went into
the mines with him to assist in the struggle for existence—the
younger ones as drivers of the mine mules, which hauled the coal to
“daylight,” the older ones as laborers in the chambers where their
fathers blasted it down from the great seams.
Tommy mounted the steps of the cabin to the little porch in front,
and paused for a backward glance down into the valley. The
mountains had deepened from green to purple, and the eddying
clouds of mist showed sharply against this dark background. The
river splashed merrily along, a ribbon of silver at the bottom of the
valley. The kindly night had hidden all the marks of man’s handiwork
along its banks, and the scene was wholly beautiful. Yet it was not at
mountains or river that the boy looked. He had seen them every day
for years, and they had ceased to be a novelty long since. He looked
instead at a little white frame building just discernible through the
gloom, and he thought with a strange stirring of his blood that it was
perhaps in that building he was to learn to read and write. A shrill
voice from the house startled him from his reverie.
“Tommy,” it called, “ain’t you ever comin’ in, or air you goin’ t’
stand there till jedgment? Come right in here an’ wash up an’ git
ready fer supper. Where’s your pa?”
“Yes’m,” said Tommy, and hurried obediently into the house. “Pa
went over t’ th’ store t’ git some bacon. He said he’d be ’long in a
minute.”
Mrs. Remington sniffed contemptuously and banged a pan
viciously down on the table.
“A minute,” she repeated. “I guess so. Half an hour, most likely, ef
he gits t’ talkin’ with thet shif’less gang thet’s allers loafin’ round
there.”
Tommy deemed it best to make no reply to this remark, and in
silence he took off his cap and jumper and threw them on a chair.
Even in the semi-darkness it was easy to see that the house was not
an inviting place. Perched high up on the side of the hill, it had been
built by contract as cheaply as might be, and was one of a long row
of houses of identical design which the Great Eastern Coal Company
had constructed as homes for its employees. Three rooms were all
that were needed by any family, said the company—a kitchen and
two bedrooms. More than that would be a luxury for which the
miners could have no possible use and which would only tend to
spoil them. Perhaps the houses were clean when they were built,
but the grime of the coal-fields had long since conquered them and
reduced them to a uniform dinginess. Mrs. Remington had battled
valiantly against the invader at first; but it was a losing fight, and
she had finally given it up in despair. The dust was pervading,
omnipresent, over everything. It was in the water, in the beds, in the
food. It soaked clothing through and through. They lived in it, slept
in it, ate it, drank it. Small wonder that, as the years passed, Mrs.
Remington’s face lost whatever of youth and freshness it had ever
had, and that her voice grew harsh and her temper most uncertain.
“Now hurry up, Tommy,” she repeated. “Wash your hands an’
face, an’ then fetch some water from th’ spring. There ain’t a drop in
the bucket.”
“All right, ma,” answered the boy, cheerfully. And he soon had his
face and hands covered with lather. It was no slight task to cleanse
the dust from the skin, for it seemed to creep into every crevice and
to cling there with such tenacious grip that it became almost a part
of the skin itself. But at last the task was accomplished, as well as
soap and water could accomplish it, and he picked up the bucket
and started for the spring.
The air was fresh and sweet, and he breathed it in with a relish
somewhat unusual as he climbed the steep path up the mountain-
side. He placed the bucket under the little stream of pure, limpid
water that gushed from beneath a great ledge of rock, summer and
winter, fed from some exhaustless reservoir within the mountain,
and sat down to wait for it to fill. A cluster of lights along the river
showed where the town stood, and he heard an engine puffing
heavily up the grade, taking another train of coal to the great
Eastern market. Presently its headlight flashed into view, and he
watched it until it plunged into the tunnel that intersected a spur of
the mountain around which there had been no way found. What a
place it must be,—the East,—and how many people must live there
to use so much coal! The bucket was full, and he picked it up and
started back toward the house. As he neared it, he heard his mother
clattering the supper-things about with quite unnecessary violence.
“Your pa ain’t come home yit,” she cried, as Tommy entered. “He
don’t need t’ think we’ll wait fer him all night. I’ll send Johnny after
him.” She went to the front door. “John-ny—o-o-o-oh, Johnny!” she
called down the hillside.
“Yes’m,” came back a faint answer.
“Come here right away,” she called again; and in a moment a little
figure toddled up the steps. It was a boy of six—Tommy’s younger
brother. All the others—brothers and sisters alike—lay buried in a
row back of the little church. They had found the battle of life too
hard amid such surroundings, and had been soon defeated.
“Where you been?” she asked, as he panted up, breathless.
“Me an’ Freddy Roberts found a snake,” he began, “down there
under some stones. He tried t’ git away, but we got him. I’m awful
hungry,” he added, as an afterthought.
But his mother was not listening to him. She had caught the
sound of approaching footsteps down the path.
“Take him in an’ wash his hands an’ face, Tommy,” she said grimly.
“Look at them clothes! I hear your pa comin’, so hurry up.”
Johnny submitted gracefully to a scrubbing with soap and water
administered by his brother’s vigorous arm, and emerged an almost
cherubic child so far as hands and face were concerned, but no
amount of brushing could render his clothes presentable. His father
came in a moment later, a little, dried-up man, whose spirit had
been crushed and broken by a lifetime of labor in the mines—as
what man’s would not? He grunted in reply to his wife’s shrill
greeting, laid a piece of bacon on the table, and calmly proceeded
with his ablutions, quite oblivious of the storm that circled about his
head. Supper was soon on the table, a lamp, whose lighting had
been deferred to the last moment for the sake of economy, was
placed in the middle of the board, and Mrs. Remington, finding that
her remarks upon his delay met with no response, sat down behind
the steaming coffee-pot to show that she would wait no longer.
 Hard labor and mountain air are rare appetizers, and for a time
they ate in silence. At last Johnny, having taken the edge off his
hunger, began to relate the story of his thrilling encounter with the
snake, and even his mother was betrayed into a smile as she looked
at his dancing eyes. Tommy, who had been vainly striving to muster
up courage to broach the subject nearest his heart, saw his father’s
face soften, and judged it a good time to begin.
“Pa,” he remarked, “there’s a circus comin’, ain’t they?”
“Yes,” said his father; “I see some bills down at the mine.”
“When’s it comin’?”
“I don’t know. You kin ask somebody. Want t’ go?”
Mrs. Remington snorted to show her disapproval of the proposed
extravagance.
“No, it ain’t that,” answered Tommy, in a choked voice. “I don’t
keer a cent about th’ circus. Pa, I want t’ go t’ school.”
Mr. Remington sat suddenly upright, as though something had
stung him on the back, and rubbed his head in a bewildered way.
His brother stared at Tommy, awe-struck.
“Go t’ school!” repeated his father, at last, when he had
conquered his amazement sufficiently to speak. “What on airth fer?”
“T’ learn how t’ read,” said Tommy, gathering courage from his
father’s dismay. “Pa, I want t’ know how t’ read an’ write. Why, I
can’t even read th’ show-bill!”
“Well,” said his father, “neither kin I.”
Tommy stopped a moment to consider his words, for he felt he
was on delicate ground. In all his fourteen years of life, he had never
been so desperate as at this moment.
But his mother came unexpectedly to his rescue.
“Well, an’ if you can’t read, Silas,” she said sharply, “is thet any
reason th’ boy shouldn’t git a chance? Maybe he won’t hev t’ work in
th’ mines ef he gits a little book-l’arnin’. Heaven knows, it’s a hard
life.”
“Yes, it’s a hard life,” assented the miner, absently. “It’s a hard life.
Nobody knows thet better ’n me.”
 Tommy looked at his mother, his eyes bright with gratitude.
“I stopped at th’ school-house t’ git th’ teacher t’ read th’ bill t’
me,” he said, “an’ she told me thet anybody kin learn t’ read—thet
’tain’t hard at all. It’s a free school, an’ it won’t cost nothin’ but fer
my books. I’ve got purty near three dollars in my bank. Thet ort t’
pay fer ’em.”
“But who’ll help me at th’ mine?” asked his father. “I’ve got t’ hev
a helper, an’ I can’t pay one out of th’ starvation wages th’ company
gives us. What’ll I do?”
“I tell you, pa,” said Tommy, eagerly. “I kin help you in th’
afternoons, an’ all th’ time in th’ summer when they ain’t no school.
I’ll jest go in th’ mornin’s, an’ you kin keep on blastin’ till I git there t’
help y’ load. I know th’ boss won’t keer. Kin I go?”
His face was rosy with anticipation. His father looked at him
doubtfully a moment.
“Of course you kin go,” broke in his mother, sharply. “You’ve said
yourself, Silas, many a time,” she added to her husband, “thet th’
minin’ business’s gittin’ worse an’ worse, an’ thet a man can’t make
a livin’ at it any more. Th’ boy ort t’ hev a chance.”
Tommy shot another grateful glance at his mother, and then
looked back at his father. He knew that from him must come the
final word.
“You kin try it,” said his father, at last. “I reckon you’ll soon git
tired of it, anyway.”
But Tommy was out of his chair before he could say more, and
threw his arms about his neck.
“I’m so glad!” he cried. “You’ll see how I’ll work in th’ afternoons.
We’ll git out more coal ’n ever!”
“Well, well,” protested Silas, awkwardly returning his caress, “we’ll
see. I don’t know but what your ma’s right. You’ve been a good boy,
Tommy, an’ deserve a chance.”
And mother and father alike looked after the boy with
unaccustomed tenderness as he ran out of the house and up the
mountain-side to think it all over. Up there, with only the stars to
see, Tommy flung himself on the ground and sobbed aloud in sheer
gladness of heart.
 CHAPTER III
THE DAWNING OF A NEW DAY

When Bessie Andrews came within sight of the door of the little
schoolhouse next morning, she was surprised to see a boy sitting on
the step; but as she drew nearer, she discovered it was her visitor of
the evening before. He arose when he saw her coming and took off
his cap. Cap and clothes alike showed evidence of work in the
mines, but face and hands had been polished until they shone again.
Her heart leaped as she recognized him, for she had hardly dared to
hope that her talk with him would bear such immediate and splendid
fruit. Perhaps this was only the beginning, she thought, and she
hurried forward toward him, her face alight with pleasure.
“Good morning,” she said, holding out her hand. “Your father said
yes? I’m so glad!”
He placed his hand in hers awkwardly. She could feel how rough
and hard it was with labor—not a child’s hand at all.
“Yes’m,” he answered shyly. “Pa said I might try it.”
“Come in”; and she unlocked the door and opened it. “Sit down
there a minute till I take off my things.”
He sat down obediently and watched her as she removed her hat
and gloves. The clear morning light revealed to him how different
she was from the women he had known—a difference which, had it
been visible the evening before, might have kept him from her. His
eyes dwelt upon the fresh outline of her face, the softness of her
hair and its graceful waviness, the daintiness of her gown, which
alone would have proclaimed her not of the coal-fields, and he
realized in a vague way how very far she was removed from the
people among whom he had always lived.
“SHE HURRIED FORWARD TOWARD HIM, HER FACE ALIGHT
WITH PLEASURE.”
 “Now first about the studies,” she said, sitting down near him. “Of
course we shall have to begin at the very beginning, and for a time
you will be in a class of children much younger than yourself. But
you mustn’t mind that. You won’t have to stay there long, for I know
you are going to learn, and learn rapidly.”
She noticed that he was fumbling in his pocket and seemed
hesitating at what to say.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I’ll need some books, I guess,” he stammered. “Pa’s been givin’
me a quarter of a dollar every week fer a long time fer helpin’ him at
th’ mine, an’ I’ve got about three dollars saved up.”
With a final wrench he produced from his pocket a little toy bank,
with an opening in the chimney through which coins could be
dropped inside, and held it toward her.
“Will that be enough?” he asked anxiously.
The quick tears sprang to her eyes as she pressed the bank back
into his hands.
“No, no,” she protested. “You won’t need any books at all at first,
for I will write your lessons on the blackboard yonder. After that, I
have plenty of books here that you can use. Keep the money, and
we’ll find a better way to spend it.”
He looked at her doubtfully.
“A better way?” he repeated, as though it seemed impossible
there could be a better way.
“Yes. You’ll see. You’ll want something besides mere school-books
before long. Put your bank in your pocket,” she added. “Here come
the other children.”
He put it back reluctantly, and in a few minutes had made the
acquaintance of the dozen children which were all that Miss Andrews
had been able to bring together. Most of them belonged to the more
important families of the neighborhood. Tommy, of course, had
never before associated with them, and he felt strangely awkward
and embarrassed in their presence. He reflected inwardly, however,
that he could undoubtedly whip the biggest boy in the crowd in fair
fight; but all the reassurance that came from his physical strength
was presently taken out of him when he heard some of them, much
younger than himself, reading with more or less glibness from their
books.
He himself had his first struggle with the alphabet, and before the
hour ended had mastered some dozen letters. He rejoiced when he
learned that there were only twenty-six, but his heart fell again
when he found that each of them had two forms, a written and a
printed form, and that there were two variations of each form,
capitals and small letters. Between these he was, as yet, unable to
trace any resemblance or connection; but he kept manfully at work,
attacking each new letter much as a great general attacks each
division of the enemy’s army, until he has overcome them all. And it
is safe to say that no general ever felt a greater joy in his conquests.
It is not an easy thing for a boy totally unused to study to
undertake a task like this, and more than once he found his
attention wandering from the board before him, where the various
letters were set down. He wondered how his father was getting
along at the mine without him; he caught himself gazing through the
window at the cows on the hillside opposite; he had an impulse to
run to the door and watch the New York express whirl by. The hum
of the children about him, reciting to the teacher or conning their
lessons at their desks, set his head to nodding; but he sat erect
again heroically, rubbed his eyes, and went back to his task. The
teacher was watching him, and smiled to herself with pleasure at
this sign of his earnestness.
I think the greatest lesson he learned that morning—the lesson,
indeed, which it is the end of all education to teach—was the value
of concentration, of keeping his mind on the work in hand. The
power he had not yet acquired, of course,—very few people, and
they only great ones, ever do acquire it completely,—yet he made a
long stride forward, and when at last noon came and school was
dismissed, he started homeward with the feeling that he had won a
victory.
That afternoon, as he worked beside his father in the mine,
loading the loosened coal into the little cars, and pushing them down
the chamber to be hauled away, he kept repeating the letters to
himself, and from time to time he took from his pocket the soiled
circus poster, and holding it up before his flickering lamp, picked out
upon it the letters that he knew, to make certain he had not
forgotten them. His father watched him curiously, but made no
comment, being somewhat out of humor from having to work alone
all the morning. Yet this passed in time, for Tommy labored with
such purpose and good will that when the whistle blew their output
was very nearly as large as it ever was.
After supper that evening, Tommy hurried forth to the hillside,
and flinging himself face downward on the ground, spread out the
bill before him and went over and over it again so long as the light
enabled him to distinguish one letter from another, until he was
quite certain he could never forget them.
At the end of a very few days he knew his alphabet, but, to his
dismay, he found this was only the first and very easiest step toward
learning to read. Those twenty-six letters were capable of an infinite
number of combinations, and each combination meant a different
thing. It was with a real exultation he conquered the easiest forms,
—“cat” and “dog” and “ax” and “boy,”—and after that his progress
was more rapid.
“HE PICKED OUT THE LETTERS HE KNEW, TO MAKE CERTAIN HE
HAD NOT FORGOTTEN THEM.”
 It is always the first steps which are the most difficult, and as the
weeks passed he was regularly promoted from one class to another.
The great secret of his success lay in the fact that he did not put his
lessons from him and forget all about them the moment the school
door closed behind him, but kept at least one of his books with him
always. His mother even went to the unprecedented extravagance of
keeping a lamp burning in the evening that he might study by it, and
hour after hour sat there with him, sewing or knitting, and glancing
proudly from time to time at his bowed head. They were the only
ones awake, for husband and younger child always went to bed
early, the one worn out by the day’s work, the other by the day’s
play.
To Tommy those days and evenings were each crowded with
wonders. He learned not only that the letters may be combined into
words, but that the ten figures may be combined into numbers. The
figures, indeed, admitted of even more wonderful combinations, for
they could be added and subtracted and multiplied and divided one
by another, something that could not be done with letters at all,
which seemed to him a very singular thing.
The first triumph came one evening when, after questioning his
father as to the amount of coal he had mined that day and the price
he was paid for each ton of it, he succeeded in demonstrating how
much money he had earned, reaching exactly the same result that
his father had reached by means of some intricate method of
reckoning understood only by himself. It was no small triumph, for
from that moment his father began dimly to perceive that all of this
book-learning might one day be useful. So when winter and spring
had passed, and the time drew near for dismissing the school for the
summer, Tommy could not only read fairly well and write a little, but
could do simple sums in addition and subtraction, and knew his
multiplication-table as high as seven. Small wonder his mother
looked at him proudly, and that even his father was a little in awe of
him!
It was about a week before the end of the term that Miss
Andrews called him to her.
Welcome to our website – the ideal destination for book lovers and
knowledge seekers. With a mission to inspire endlessly, we offer a
vast collection of books, ranging from classic literary works to
specialized publications, self-development books, and children's
literature. Each book is a new journey of discovery, expanding
knowledge and enriching the soul of the reade

Our website is not just a platform for buying books, but a bridge
connecting readers to the timeless values of culture and wisdom. With
an elegant, user-friendly interface and an intelligent search system,
we are committed to providing a quick and convenient shopping
experience. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery
services ensure that you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading.

Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and

personal growth!

ebookultra.com