Workplace Deviance - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Deviant workplace behavior is considered as the behavior which is against the overall organizational norms. There are different examples or incidences where deviant behavior can actually be displayed by the workers. Deviant behavior can be expressed through withholding effort, dealing rudely with the co-workers, stealing as well as engaging into behavior which may be non-supportive for the organization as a whole. From sociological perspectives, deviance is considered as a behavior which is against the social norms. Norms of any given society are considered as the expectations by which members of the society have to comply with and associate themselves. Similar argument therefore also goes for deviance in workplace wherein employees are supposed to meet certain expectations. Different surveys and studies however, indicated that as high as 75% of the employees may be engaged into deviant workplace behavior and more importantly they can engage into stealing of organization’s property. Further studies have also revealed that worsening economic conditions, fears of downsizing as well as the restructuring within the organization has further added to the deviant workplace behavior. There has been a greater emphasis on outlining the role of leadership in sourcing ethical behavior of the employees. Studies indicate the role of better conduct of leadership of the organizations to solicit behavior which is in accordance with the accepted norms of the organization. This paper will therefore discuss about the workplace deviance and how and why it happens within organizational context.. Nature and Meaning of Deviance It is argued that deviance has many contexts and meanings as different persons can interpret deviance in different manner. Deviant behavior of individuals in one place or social context may not be deviance in any other social setting. Deviance therefore is considered as confusing despite the fact that there is consensus on the general criteria of what deviance and deviant behavior is. (Steven H. Appelbaum, Deguire, & Lay, 2005) Deviance can take different and many forms however there is a debate regarding what particular elements can be considered as deviant in nature. The overall ambiguity regarding deviances becomes more serious when one behavior is accepted whereas same behavior is condemned by somebody else. This relative nature of deviance therefore creates dilemma in terms of defining it in its proper sense. There is therefore a strong tendency to have agreements and disagreements on certain issues causing deviance. This contradiction between different opposing views therefore is considered relatively important in terms of fully understanding the nature and meaning of deviance. The early conception of the word deviance in its proper sociological context outlined is outlined as collection of persons, conditions and act which a society generally disvalue, condemn or find them inappropriate. This suggests that deviance has a critical and stronger link with the society and how society and various groups of it view deviance as acceptable or regrettable behavior. This definition however seems to ignore an important element of how and why people actually label certain acts as deviant or against the acceptable behavior. Defining what is offensive or acceptable behavior therefore remains one of the key questions when outlining certain behaviors as deviant or not. Most of the focus of sociologists has remained fixated on understanding on what makes a behavior deviant, its nature and how actually one commit such deviant behavior. Since there are many norms which are set by the society therefor there are also different examples of deviance within different contexts. (Hodson, Simpson , & Simpson , 1997) Normative and Reactive interpretation of Deviance Relativist deviance outlines that there are no universal entities which can be defined or labeled as deviant. Rather society and social groups actually create the rules and when those rules are breached, deviance is created. Normative deviance however, outlines that deviance is an intentional violation of the norms which society has created for itself. As such the violation of norms often results into condemnation or sanctions by the society because violation of such norms creates deviance within the society. Deviance or deviant behavior and people engaged in such deviant behaviors are not considered as different from other members of the society. What makes them different however, is their deviant behavior which is different from what is normally being practiced within a given society. What is also critical to note that deviance is often seen in negative frame of reference therefore to some deviance is a very rebellious and intentional act to negate from what is generally acceptable. Society as a whole therefore views such behaviors in negative frame of reference and also attempt to punish those who engage into such negative behavior. (Huiras, Uggen , & McMorris, 2000) Differential Association Differential association was one of the first attempts to define what causes deviance in a given society. Differential association indicates that environment plays an important role in deciding whether a person engaged into deviant behavior or not. People falling within a particular group tend to define what deviance is and what is acceptable and it is the environment specifically which actually outlines deviant behavior. This theory also outlines that people learn deviance from people they are associated with therefore the people factor plays a critical role in defining deviance within a particular social setting. Control Theory Another important theory outlining why deviance occurs is based upon the notion of control. According to this theory, there are inner and outer controls which work against our deviant tendencies. This theory therefore outlines that people may engage into deviant behavior sometimes but not all the people want to act in deviant manner. The internal and external controls actually restrict a person to act in a manner which may not be acceptable to the society. Internal sources may include guilt, integrity, morality whereas external sources may include the fear of law enforcement agencies, family, friends as well as religion. These inner and outer controls however are considered as levers of self-control through which individuals can actually exercise self-control over themselves in order to avoid being engaged in a behavior which can be labeled as deviant. As such, this theory outlines that our internal and external controls play important role in defining whether we will be engaging into deviant behavior or not. Workplace Deviance Workplace deviance is also one of the types of deviances in which individuals intentionally act in a manner which potentially violates the norms of the organization. It is also often done with the intentions of harming the organizations or different individuals working within the organization. The overall range of workplace deviant activities includes incidences such as theft, stealing of organizational property, deliberate withdrawal of effort as well as aggression and sabotage. Deviance also include some minor deviant behavior in which employees intentionally engage themselves in order to create an environment which looks against the norms of the organization. Workplace deviance is critically important because of the overall cost involved in it and the social side of the same. Workplace deviance is considered as costly to the society as well as to the organizations because such behavior actually wastes the resources of organizations and restricts them from optimally uses their resources. Further, deviant behavior also results into an hostile environment within the organization and the overall relationships between the employees of the organization. It is also important to understand that workplace deviance is also considered as a voluntary behavior wherein employees without actually knowing that they are contributing towards the creation of a hostile environment engage into activities which not only violate the norms of the organization but that of the society also. However, voluntary behavior of employees to be deviant also creates heavy costs for the organization in terms of equipment damage as well as capital losses. Types of Workplace Deviance There are different types of deviant behaviors which are shown by the employees within an organizational setting. Over the period of time, research in sociology has focused on two important types of deviances i.e. production and property deviance. Production Deviance Production deviance is considered as counter-productive because when an employee engage into any such behavior, he or she is actually violating the minimum expectations of quality and quantity of work. This deviance is also considered as a rule breaking deviance behavior however; it is relatively counter-productive in nature. Some of the examples of production deviance include making personal calls from official phones as well as intentionally slowing down the work. The organization therefore not only suffers due to slow pace of work but also incur losses due to the non-productive use of its property. Property Deviance This type of deviance comes under the deliberate acts to destroy or damage the property or assets of the organization. This anti-social behavior is often considered as destructive and violent nature as employees deliberately engage into such activities which can destroy the property of the organization. This sort of deviance includes sabotage as well as stealing and can also include criminal activities undertaken by the employees with the intention of damaging the organization’s assets. It is also important to note that workplace deviance is also considered as resistance to power as through showing deviance, employees actually resist certain power structures existing within an organization. There are two other important types of deviant behaviors observed within the employees. These are: Interpersonal Deviance Interpersonal deviance is targeted at the individual employees and in such incidences; employees tend to develop conflicts with each other. In this behavior employees may act rudely with each other or talk negatively. Interpersonal deviance can be relatively more threatening because it directly affects the employees socialize within an organization. Higher level of conflict between employees may result into negative productivity. Organizational Deviance This deviance is targeted at the organization and employee directly engages into behaviors which are detrimental for the organization. In this type of organizational deviance, employees engage into actions such as stealing, theft and deliberate withdrawal of effort from work. Reasons for Deviance One of the key reasons of deviance within an organization is based upon the argument of psychological contract. Employees and employers tend to form a psychological contract also when employees are hired however, when such expectations are not met, employees tend to engage into deviant behavior. Workplace deviance therefore can emerge within employees if they believe that they have been mistreated by the organization or unfair advantage has been taken from them. When these perceptions start to emerge employees tends to feel betrayed and as such the social relationship between the employer and the employee tend to falter at that moment. Employees therefore consider workplace deviance as an appropriate response towards unfairness mated to them. Supervision Another critical reason for the workplace deviance is the abusive supervision of the employees and the way employees are treated by their superiors. Abusive supervision emerges when employees perceive that their supervisors engage into sustained and consistent abusive behavior and which can be damaging to their self-respect and self-esteem within the organization. Constant abusing by the supervisors tend to push employees to violate their social and psychological contracts with the employers and focus and direct their energies towards creating a hostile environment to take revenge for their abuse. The perception that one is not being respected within the organization is one of the key reasons as to why employees strongly engage themselves into deviant behavior. The role of leadership and the supervision therefore is of critical importance to ensure that employees’ self-esteem is maintained in order to allow them to work productively. It has also been suggested that workplace deviance may be resistance against the organizational power structures. Managers and supervisors often tend to abuse and misuse their powers and resultantly engage into deviance themselves. However, their deviance creates negative emotions within the workplace and accumulation of same finally results into personal aggression demonstrated by the employees. It has also been argued that the employees tend to mimic the behaviors of their superiors and co-workers and therefore co-workers or superiors themselves engage into workplace deviance, employees tend to follow them. As a result of this mimicking employees consistently engage themselves into behaviors which can be against the acceptable norms of the organization, As a result of workplace deviance, employees also tend to face certain psychological as well as medical conditions. For example, employees engaged in workplace deviance can experience higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels besides experiencing anxiety and higher levels of stress. Role of Leadership and Organization It has been argued that leadership of the organization can play an important role in reducing workplace deviance. Leadership of the organization has the power to develop an ethically sound organizational culture where social relations can flourish and develop based upon the notion of mutual trust and respect. Various studies have indicated the need to create an environment which is ethically sound and cooperative in nature in order to ensure that organization as a whole as well as supervisors do not contribute towards the creation of an environment which may not be conducive for the employees. (Goodenough, 2008) Ethical leadership within social construct therefore assumes that it will be able to create transformation within the organization. This transformation can be achieved by inspiring and creating more trust between organizations and the employees. Ethical leadership however, needs to be developed based upon the principles of integrity, honesty as well as trustworthiness. These three elements can create an environment which is conducive. Leaders are also believed to be in unique position because of the power they drive from the position as well as other legitimate power which can put them in a position of creating a just and ethical organizational culture. This legitimate power therefore can further allow leaders to exercise their power to extract legitimate followership and make their employees realize that the organization as a whole care about them. (Christine A. Henle, Giacalone, & Jurkiewicz, 2005) Leadership can also depict a perception of fairness towards the employees and also engage into principled centered decision making within the organization. Such behavior therefore can effectively result into just and ethical organizational environment which can contribute towards lessening the workplace deviance. Conclusion Workplace deviance is considered as one of the common attributes in organizations wherein employees tend to engage into behaviors which may be detrimental or harmful for the organizations. Deviance occurs when one person acts in a manner which is against the established norms of the society. Workplace deviance is also the same phenomenon wherein employees engage into behaviors which are against the established norms and rules of the organization as well as the society as a whole. Workplace deviance can occur if employees held the perception that they are mistreated and that their supervisors may not be fair to them. Unfairness, lack of ownership by the organization as well as the unethical behavior of the organizations may be some of the reasons as to why employees engage into such behaviors. It is therefore important that the leadership must play an ethical role within the organization in order to reduce such behavior. Leadership need to cultivate an environment of trust, fairness and non-biasness in order to allow employees to become part of the organization. Ethical leaders therefore need to perform the role of transforming the organization based on mutual trust and respect for the employees. Bibliography Christine A. Henle, Giacalone, R., & Jurkiewicz, C. (2005). The Role of Ethical Ideology in Workplace Deviance. Journal of Business Ethics, 56(3), 219-230. Goodenough, P. L. (2008). Ethical Leadership, Values Congruence, and Work Place Deviance: An Exploratory Study. New York: ProQuest. Hodson, R., Simpson , R., & Simpson , I. (1997). Research in the Sociology of Work. New York: JAI Press Inc. Huiras, J., Uggen , C., & McMorris, B. (2000). Career Jobs, Survival Jobs, and Employee Deviance: A Social Investment Model of Workplace Misconduct. The Sociological Quarterly, 41(2), 245-263. Steven H. Appelbaum, Deguire, K., & Lay, M. (2005). The relationship of ethical climate to deviant workplace behaviour. Corporate Governance, 5(4), 43-55. Read More