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Book Review: Building More Effective Unions

bullying, it is unclear whether there are gender differences in the bullying tactics adopted. One of the contributors, Cath Rafferty, Manager of the Queensland Working Women’s Service, offers a particularly sobering statement: ‘we all have the capacity to be the bully or the target of a bully’ (page 102). To me, this captures the essence of beginning to understand the phenomenon. There are some unresolved dilemmas in the book. While the four chapters that discuss approaches to countering bullying (chapters 10–13) identify a range of measures including legal remedies and management strategies, some of the suggestions assume ‘proactivity’ on the part of the target or victim. By virtue of their relatively powerless position, a target of bullying, by definition, has endured mistreatment––perhaps in silence––for a long period of time. It is not inconceivable, then, that he or she may be unwilling to directly resolve the issue (after all, the highly covert forms of bullying may be difficult to establish in court) and will eventually decide to leave the organisation. In such cases, managers might be unaware of the real reason for the turnover. Furthermore, because much of what may constitute bullying is highly subtle, many employees would, in all likelihood, probably disregard a whole host of actions as bullying. In other words, some of the treatment meted out has become ‘normalised’ workplace behaviour and whether it can unequivocally be regarded as ‘bullying’ is debatable. The concept, therefore, appears quite slippery; in turn, this militates against accurately measuring the frequency of bullying as well as the prevention and regulation of workplace bullying in Australia. In addition, the book takes for granted the negative consequences of bullying. While some chapters make passing reference to a range of direct and indirect outcomes, the relationship between bullying and these outcomes is not clearly established. It is possible that such concerns were addressed in the first edition, but a chapter that addresses this aspect of bullying is still warranted, if only to update the literature and underscore the harmful effects of bullying. These reservations aside, Bullying: From Backyard to Boardroom is an important book which addresses a contemporary issue in many Australian workplaces. Containing implications for individuals, groups, organisations and governments, many journal readers will find the book of considerable interest.