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First published November 2006

Nightmares, Demons, and Slaves: Exploring the Painful Metaphors of Workplace Bullying

Sarah J. Tracy, Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik, and Jess K. AlbertsView all authors and affiliations
Volume 20, Issue 2
https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318906291980

Abstract

Although considerable research has linked workplace bullying with psychosocial and physical costs, the stories and conceptualizations of mistreatment by those targeted are largely untold. This study uses metaphor analysis to articulate and explore the emotional pain of workplace bullying and, in doing so, helps to translate its devastation and encourage change. Based on qualitative data gathered from focus groups, narrative interviews, and target drawings, the analysis describes how bullying can feel like a battle, water torture, nightmare, or noxious substance. Abused workers frame bullies as narcissistic dictators, two-faced actors, and devil figures. Employees targeted with workplace bullying liken themselves to vulnerable children, slaves, prisoners, animals, and heartbroken lovers. These metaphors highlight and delimit possibilities for agency and action. Furthermore, they may serve as diagnostic cues, providing shorthand necessary for early intervention.

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1.
1. Names used throughout the article are pseudonyms, and several identifying details of participants have been modified.
2.
2. Within 5 months of beginning the data gathering for this project, we had been contacted by more than 15 journalists and included in 12 media stories on the topic. Furthermore, within 2 weeks of placing an advertisement calling for persons bullied at work, we received 20 telephone calls and more than 200 e-mails.
3.
3. Self-help books include The Bully at Work (Namie & Namie, 2000a); Brutal Bosses (Hornstein, 1996); Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace (Davenport, Schwartz, & Elliott, 2002); Work Abuse: How to Recognize It and Survive It (Wyatt & Hare, 1997); Stalking the Soul (Hirigoyen, 1998); Bullying in Adulthood (Randall, 2001), and You Don’t Have to Take It: A Woman’s Guide to Confronting Emotional Abuse at Work (NiCarthy, Gottlieb, & Coffman, 1993).

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Sarah J. Tracy (PhD, 2000, University of Colorado, Boulder) is an associate professor and director for The Project for Wellness and Work-Life in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. Her research interests include organizational identity, emotion labor, bullying, dirty work, and work-life balance.
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Published In

Volume 20, Issue 2
Pages: 148 - 185
Article first published: November 2006
Issue published: November 2006

Keywords

  1. workplace bullying
  2. emotion
  3. metaphor analysis
  4. work feelings
  5. harassment

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Sarah J. Tracy
Arizona State University, Tempe, [email protected]
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Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
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Jess K. Alberts
Arizona State University, Tempe
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