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Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town

Workplace bullying likely started after the Industrial Revolution, with the development of formal workplaces like factories and offices, and has increasingly become a problem in workplaces, particularly for victims on whom the impact can be lifelong and debilitating. This minor dissertation explores...

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Main Author: Phillips, Patricia
Other Authors: Van Der Spuy, Elrena
Format: Thesis
Language:English
English
Published: Department of Private Law 2025
Subjects:
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access_status_str Open Access
author Phillips, Patricia
author2 Van Der Spuy, Elrena
author_browse Phillips, Patricia
Van Der Spuy, Elrena
author_facet Van Der Spuy, Elrena
Phillips, Patricia
author_sort Phillips, Patricia
collection Thesis
description Workplace bullying likely started after the Industrial Revolution, with the development of formal workplaces like factories and offices, and has increasingly become a problem in workplaces, particularly for victims on whom the impact can be lifelong and debilitating. This minor dissertation explores global and South African prevalence to demonstrate the extent of this harmful practice. It further reviews global and South African legislation and introduces bullying in academia as a backdrop to the Case Study on Bullying at the University of Cape Town. While research on workplace bullying had primarily focussed on the personality traits of victims and perpetrators, this minor dissertation attempts to draw on themes drawn from a review of Criminological Theory (Routine Activities and Normalisation Theory) and Transformational Theory to present a case study on Bullying at the University of Cape Town. These themes include the normalisation of deviant behaviour in workplaces, the impact of guardians failing employees in their protective role in organisations, the impact of life-changing events on both the individual and the organisation, and finally, how dysfunctional organisational structure contributes to workplace bullying with particular reference to the University of Cape Town. Finally, it explores whether workplace bullying can be addressed by legislation and implementation of workplace policies.
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language English
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last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:46.693Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Department of Private Law
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41879 Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town Phillips, Patricia Van Der Spuy, Elrena Collier, Debbie Workplace bulling University of Cape Town Workplace bullying likely started after the Industrial Revolution, with the development of formal workplaces like factories and offices, and has increasingly become a problem in workplaces, particularly for victims on whom the impact can be lifelong and debilitating. This minor dissertation explores global and South African prevalence to demonstrate the extent of this harmful practice. It further reviews global and South African legislation and introduces bullying in academia as a backdrop to the Case Study on Bullying at the University of Cape Town. While research on workplace bullying had primarily focussed on the personality traits of victims and perpetrators, this minor dissertation attempts to draw on themes drawn from a review of Criminological Theory (Routine Activities and Normalisation Theory) and Transformational Theory to present a case study on Bullying at the University of Cape Town. These themes include the normalisation of deviant behaviour in workplaces, the impact of guardians failing employees in their protective role in organisations, the impact of life-changing events on both the individual and the organisation, and finally, how dysfunctional organisational structure contributes to workplace bullying with particular reference to the University of Cape Town. Finally, it explores whether workplace bullying can be addressed by legislation and implementation of workplace policies. 2025-09-19T12:17:17Z 2025-09-19T12:17:17Z 2025 2025-09-19T09:02:12Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41879 en eng application/pdf Department of Private Law Faculty of Law University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Workplace bulling
University of Cape Town
Phillips, Patricia
Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town
title_full Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town
title_fullStr Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town
title_full_unstemmed Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town
title_short Bullying in the workplace: a case study of the University of Cape Town
title_sort bullying in the workplace a case study of the university of cape town
topic Workplace bulling
University of Cape Town
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41879
work_keys_str_mv AT phillipspatricia bullyingintheworkplaceacasestudyoftheuniversityofcapetown