Javier Martín-Peña

Perceived severity of various bullying behaviours at work and the relevance of exposure to bullying

Abstract In this study, perceptions of the severity of various bullying behaviours in the workplace are investigated. The main aims are (1) to obtain the assessments of workers regarding the severity of the various types of behaviour that constitute bullying (psychological abuse), and (2) to examine whether the degree of involvement with the phenomenon (represented by three different groups: victims, witnesses and employees with no previous experience of bullying) influences the severity assessments. A sample of 300 workers from various branches of four organizations in Spain (191 women and 109 men aged between 21 and 66 years) completed a questionnaire. The results showed that assessments of the perceived severity of the different types of bullying behaviour varied. Bullying behaviours fell into six categories, with various types of emotional abuse proving to be perceived as the most severe category. Moreover, the results showed that there was no significant difference in the perceived severity of bullying behaviour among victims, witnesses and employees without previous experience of bullying. The consequences of these results and how they can influence theory, future research and practice are discussed.

Categorization and Hierarchy of Workplace Bullying Strategies: A Delphi Survey

This paper reports a study of the characteristics of psychological abuse strategies deployed in the workplace (mobbing or workplace bullying). Based on a literature review, the aim of the present study is two fold: firstly to propose a new taxonomy of mobbing strategies and to provide an operational definition for each of them, and secondly, to assess this taxonomy with the aid of several experts, by using a Delphi survey, and to evaluate the severity of each of the mobbing strategies. The experts were asked to evaluate the adequacy and the severity of the definitions for each mobbing strategy. Thirty experts working in various professions (psychology, medicine, law, sociology, etc.) participated in a two-round Delphi survey. The experts estimated that the new taxonomy and the operational definitions were appropriate, establishing content and construct validity. They ranked the workplace bullying strategies in terms of descending importance: strategies of direct nature, followed by indirect strategies. Theoretical implications of the study, its limitations and future research are discussed.

Amenazados y víctimas del entramado de ETA en Euskadi: un estudio desde la teoría de la exclusión moral

Resumen Este estudio investiga la vivencia del acoso y violencia padecidos por las víctimas y los amenazados del entramado de ETA en Euskadi, utilizando el enfoque teórico de la exclusión moral. Para ello, se realiza un análisis de contenido sobre los testimonios de una muestra de personas amenazadas y víctimas de ETA en Euskadi (n = 85; Hombres = 76,50%; franja de edad40—49 años; sector público = 57,60%; actividad política como razón para el acoso = 51,80%; violencia psicológica = 55,29%). Concretamente, mediante las dimensiones de exclusión moral, 187 unidades de análisis fueron detectadas a partir del análisis de contenido. Los resultados mostraron las siguientes dimensiones de exclusión moral: a) un alcance social limitado a unos colectivos específicos amenazados por el entramado etarra (51,87%); b) unos comportamientos predominantemente de baja intensidad mediante estrategias de intimidación y amenaza, reforzadas por la potencial violencia física (21,14%); c) una participación pasiva de parte de la sociedad, que ha facilitado la indiferencia hacia las víctimas y en ocasiones su propia culpabilización (12,30%). Los coeficientes de estabilidad (k =.94) y reproducibilidad (k =.87) fueron adecuados. El estudio abarca aspectos que van más allá de las formas de violencia utilizadas y de sus efectos, aportándose algunos factores clave de la percepción de exclusión moral en amenazados y víctimas de ETA en Euskadi. Finalmente, se discuten los resultados, limitaciones e implicaciones de esta investigación.

Estudio y análisis sobre cómo perciben el mobbing los trabajadores

Resumen Este trabajo se plantea como primer objetivo analizar la forma en que los trabajadores definen y delimitan el abuso psicológico en el lugar de trabajo. Y en segundo lugar analizar la incidencia del mobbing en dicha muestra de trabajadores. A través de un cuestionario auto-administrado elaborado por los autores para esta investigación, se pidió a los participantes (trabajadores en activo) a través de una pregunta abierta que expresaran qué entienden por mobbing. Además, se les pidió que juzgaran el grado de proximidad o experiencia con dicho fenómeno. Los trabajadores participantes en el estudio han descrito el mobbing apelando a los factores psicológicos y psicosociales, en detrimento de los aspectos físicos y sexuales. Además, la incidencia hallada del 10% se aprecia muy similar a la encontrada por diversos estudios de diferentes países europeos. Esta investigación ha profundizado en las percepciones de los trabajadores acerca de lo que entienden por mobbing, procurando contribuir de este modo a una mejor delimitación y evaluación del abuso psicológico en el lugar de trabajo.

Un análisis psicosocial del grupo terrorista como secta

Resumen Este trabajo pretende realizar un análisis de la dinámica interna de los grupos terroristas a partir de la dinámica característica de las sectas coercitivas. Desde una perspectiva psicosocial, y a partir de la investigación científica revisada en ambos campos, se estudian de forma paralela las características principales que definen a ambos tipos de grupos y se analizan los distintos procesos de interacción que se producen en ambos. Se aborda la interacción entre los tres elementos fundamentales, la persona, el grupo y su entorno social próximo, deteniéndose en los factores facilitadores de la vinculación de los sujetos a ambos tipos de grupos. Posteriormente, se profundiza en las estrategias de abuso psicológico que hacen servir determinadas sectas para captar y someter a sus adeptos, combinando elementos de influencia y persuasión con otras formas de control, manipulación y coacción. Se analiza así en qué medida dichas estrategias son aplicadas también por los grupos terroristas, haciendo un balance de similitudes y diferencias que constata la intersección entre ambos grupos.

Development and validation of the scale of psychological abuse in intimate partner violence (EAPA-P)

BACKGROUND In the context of intimate partner violence, psychological abuse (PA) has progressively gained scientific relevance. Even so, a greater effort is needed to define and evaluate psychological intimate partner abuse. A new exhaustive and operative taxonomy of PA strategies leads to the contribution of a new evaluation instrument. METHOD Participants were 101 women between 24 and 82 years old, who were abused by their partners and attended to in different municipal Catalan services, specialized in the topic. RESULTS The analyses have shown the suitability of a 19-item instrument divided into two factors: (1) direct PA strategies and (2) indirect PA strategies. The former includes strategies that affect the emotional, cognitive and behavioral dimension of the victim. The latter includes items that measure the amount of control and domination over the victim’s context. This scale has adequate psychometric properties in terms of score reliability and the validity of the relationship with other women’s health variables. CONCLUSIONS The EAPA-P, created based on a new definition and taxonomy of the forms of PA, is presented as a valid instrument to detect and measure intimate partner PA.

The Legitimization of Political Violence: A Case Study of ETA in the Basque Country

Political violence can be legitimized by offering the public justifications for harm doing. This study of the legitimation of political violence is situated in the Basque region in northern Spain. It focuses on ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna; Basque Homeland and Freedom), the last separatist and nationalist group in Western Europe using terrorist violence as a tactic to achieve independence. In its 50 years of existence, ETA has evolved in its target selection and the forms of violence it utilizes to achieve political independence for the Basque Country. Utilizing two theories as analytic tools, Faces of Legitimization Theory (Van den Broek, 2004) and Moral Exclusion Theory (Opotow, 1990a, 1990b, 1995), this article describes how ETAs victims experience threatened or actual harm and its aftermath, how ETA describes its own actions, and the relation between ETA and Spanish governments. The article concludes with a discussion of results, limitations, and implications of the research findings.

Psychosocial analysis of ETA"s violence legitimation discourse

Abstract This study analyses the fundamental components shaping the violence legitimation discourse of ETA (Euskadi Ta Askasuna). With this aim, a category system has been built, which organizes the psychosocial processes identified in previous studies related to violence legitimation. Based on the proposed category system, a content analysis was conducted on 21 statements of ETA, released between 1998 and 2011. An intra-observer and inter-observer reliability analysis reveals high level stability and replicability of the categorization. The results show, firstly, that outgroup components have a predominant presence over ingroup components. Secondly, in the components hierarchy, we observe that elements referring to identity come in first place, followed in similar frequencies by those related to violence representation and the definition of the situation.

Victims of ETA in the Basque Country: Their Experience of Terrorist Threats

In 2011, after 50 years of violent existence, ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna — Basque Homeland and Freedom) announced a cessation of its armed activities. During this time, ETA used terrorist violence to achieve political ends, evolving in terms of target selection and strategies of violence. Attacks in the form of killings and/or bombings were perpetrated not only in the Basque Country but also all over the Spanish territory. However, besides the typical violence, other forms of activity, so-called low-intensity violence, were also carried out against targets, especially inside the Basque Country and Navarra regions; these locations were traditionally known as areas belonging to the terrorist organisation. This low-intensity violence, commonplace from the mid-1990s onwards, involved a wide spectrum of violent forms, such as physical aggression, arson attacks, coercion, intimidation, threats and extortion, among others. This strategy sustained a persistent context of pressure and harassment and because of this the so-called low-intensity violence was commonly referred to as the ‘violence of persecution’ (Gesture for Peace, 2000); it was however punctuated by the continuation of selective killings. The Basque Ombudsman noted that this ‘violence of persecution’ was mainly operationalised in the Basque Country, and predominantly against people who have been critical towards ETA’s totalitarian project, such as democratic representatives, judges, prosecutors, the police, the military, prison officers, journalists, university professors, and businessmen, among others, are under terrorist threat. (Ararteko, 2009b:635)

Spiral of silence in a post-violent context: the influence of reference groups and fear of being in a minority position

ABSTRACT Modern democracy is based on the expression of political opinions; however, in democratic societies where political violence exists, it decreases. Once violence is over, the recovery of free speech and the exchange of opinions become a key area for peace studies. This exploratory study investigates the expression of opinions about the violence suffered once it has ended. We focus on the Basque Country where the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna group (ETA, Basque Homeland and Freedom) had been using political violence from 1959 to 2011. Using survey data (N = 257), we investigate how (1) the fear of being in a minority position, (2) the closeness to the reference groups, and (3) the interaction between both variables affect opinion expression. Results show that fear of being in a minority position about violence in the Basque Country decreases opinion expression and that closeness to the reference groups has direct and indirect effect on opinion expression. This study contributes, firstly, to the limited research on the political opinion expression about the violence experienced in the Basque Country, secondly, to the limited research on its peace process, and thirdly, by adopting as reference groups those resulting from the use of violence.