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Article
Publication date: 12 August 2014

Martine B. Powell, Peter Cassematis, Mairi S. Benson, Stephen Smallbone and Richard Wortley

– The purpose of this paper is to explore police officers’ perceptions of the challenges and work stressors of working in Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore police officers’ perceptions of the challenges and work stressors of working in Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were a heterogeneous sample of 32 ICE investigators across nine Australian jurisdictions. Officers’ perceptions of ICE work were elicited via individual, open-ended, anonymous, telephone interviews, which focused on both the nature and impact of work-related stressors and challenges.

Findings

Thematic analysis revealed that viewing ICE material was not perceived to be a major stressor or particularly traumatic facet of ICE investigation. Rather, the challenges related to three areas; work relationships, workload and resources and the physical environment. Participants also suggested some improvements to their work environment which could reduce the impact of these challenges.

Practical implications

The stressors identified by ICE investigators in this study place physical, psychological and social restrictions on investigative capacity. Modifications to the workplace environment that facilitate more effective professional collaboration, reduce workload and enhance investigator efficiency and functionality of the physical work environment would likely reduce the potential for harm associated with ICE investigation and improve ICE investigators’ capacity to perform their role.

Originality/value

This is the first study to use a broad research framework to examine the full range of stressors that ICE investigators face (both organisational and operational). The findings are important for developing comprehensive theories regarding workplace traumatisation as well as holistic intervention models to assist the prevention and management of stress related to ICE investigation.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 37 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 August 2013

Martine B. Powell, Belinda L. Guadagno and Peter Cassematis

The purpose of this study is to identify the nature and prevalence of workplace stressors faced by interviewers of child sexual assault victims.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the nature and prevalence of workplace stressors faced by interviewers of child sexual assault victims.

Design/methodology/approach

Totally, 68 professionals (police and child protection workers) were invited to anonymously post their perceptions of workplace stressors on an internet forum as part of an investigative interviewing online training course. Specifically, participants were asked to reflect on salient sources of stress encountered in their role of interviewing sexually abused children.

Findings

Three key stressors were identified across the study's professional groups: inadequate recognition of specialised skills; high‐workload demands; and interagency tensions. Consistent with previous research, exposure to child‐abuse reports was not raised as a stressor.

Research limitations/implications

The study generated suggestions for modifying management practices; however, future research should identify and trial strategies for improving workplace climate in child‐abuse investigation.

Practical implications

As the stressors isolated by participants related to workplace climate rather than exposure to victims’ accounts of child abuse, minimising negative consequences of work stressors requires changes to workplace culture and practice. Workplace climates need to be modified so that the demands are offset by resources.

Originality/value

Because of its online, anonymous nature, this was the first study to offer participants the opportunity to honestly disclose primary sources of stress in child‐abuse investigation. The research also makes a much‐needed contribution to an area of police practice that is vital yet often overlooked.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 October 2021

Robert L. Braun, Dann G. Fisher, Amy Hageman, Shawn Mauldin and Michael K. Shaub

Given the conflicting attitudes that people have toward those who report wrongdoing and a lack of empirical research specifically examining subsequent hiring, it is an open…

Abstract

Given the conflicting attitudes that people have toward those who report wrongdoing and a lack of empirical research specifically examining subsequent hiring, it is an open question as to whether accounting professionals would want to work with former whistleblowers. The authors examine this question using an experimental design, in which participants evaluate an employment candidate before and after the person discloses having been a whistleblower. Four manipulations of whistleblowing are used in both a within-subjects and a between-subjects manipulation. The authors’ results demonstrate that accounting professionals’ intentions to recommend a candidate for hire decrease after they are informed that a strong candidate has a whistleblowing past. A candidate is viewed most negatively, however, when discovering malfeasance and electing not to blow the whistle internally. Moreover, when the whistle is blown internally and the superior takes no action, the candidate who remained silent and chose not to continue to push the issue is viewed more negatively than the candidate who proceeded to blow the whistle externally. Although a candidate having a whistleblowing past appears to pose a cautionary signal in the interview process, participants reacted more harshly when the candidate failed to act or lacked the durable moral courage to see the matter through to completion.

Details

Research on Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-229-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 July 2023

Behnud Mir Djawadi, Sabrina Plaß and Sabrina Schäfers

When reporting wrongdoing internally, whistleblowers are confronted with the dilemma of weighing up their loyalty toward the organization (e.g., ethical standards) and their…

Abstract

When reporting wrongdoing internally, whistleblowers are confronted with the dilemma of weighing up their loyalty toward the organization (e.g., ethical standards) and their co-workers (e.g., the social norm of not snitching on peers). However, the role played by peers in the whistleblowing decision process and in the aftermath has rarely been addressed in existing reviews. We therefore perform a systematic review that identifies seven thematic clusters of peer factors, offering researchers an informative overview of (a) the peer factors that have been examined to influence the whistleblowing decision, and (b) the extent to which the whistleblower experiences adverse consequences from peers in the aftermath of whistleblowing. As peer factors seem to be important to explain and predict internal whistleblowing, researchers are encouraged to address in future works the research gaps our review unraveled.

Details

Organizational Wrongdoing as the “Foundational” Grand Challenge: Consequences and Impact
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-282-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Peter Fieger and Bridget S. Rice

Whistle-blowing has the important role of reducing the prevalence and impact of wrongdoing in organisations. The purpose of this paper is to utilise a very large survey of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Whistle-blowing has the important role of reducing the prevalence and impact of wrongdoing in organisations. The purpose of this paper is to utilise a very large survey of Australian Public Service (APS) workers to replicate the findings of previous studies in relation to whistle-blowing likelihood and to extend the quantitative findings in relation to whistle-blowing antecedents to include ethnicity or cultural marginalisation and occupational and professional role and affiliation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors utilise the 2014 APS Census, a large data set containing 100,000 observations relating to employee engagement, leadership, health, satisfaction and general impressions of the public service. Logistic regression is employed to obtain estimates and marginal effects in respect to predictors for whistle-blowing. The authors determine the Bayesian information criterion to assess the impact of ethnicity on the probability of whistle-blowing.

Findings

The findings support the notion that organisational “outsiders” tend to report perceived wrongdoing less than those who feel assured of their cultural or organisational status. The authors further find support for the notion that membership of small organisational groupings, primarily measured by organisational size, also tends to reduce the whistle-blowing likelihood. Opportunities for further research and potential policy and practical issues are discussed briefly in conclusion.

Originality/value

While confirming the predictors seen in many previous studies, the authors identify groups who report more or less than expected that have not been reported in previous research. These include employees from a non-English speaking background and various occupational and professional groups “at risk” of low reporting.

Article
Publication date: 30 December 2022

Ali Ebrahimi, Mehdi Safari Gerayli and Hasan Valiyan

An important part of the effectiveness of a company is related to the stimuli of the organizational voice, which provides the context for participation and the emergence of moral…

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Abstract

Purpose

An important part of the effectiveness of a company is related to the stimuli of the organizational voice, which provides the context for participation and the emergence of moral courage in performing organizational tasks. Although individual voice stimulation cannot be easily generalized because of the wide range of criteria affecting it, but in a general category, individual voice stimuli can be separated into internal and external criteria. Therefore, this research first aims to examine internal and external stimuli on individual voice and then examines the effect of individual voice on internal auditors’ moral courage and effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The target population in this study were internal auditors of capital market companies that were examined in the period of 2020. The research tool was a questionnaire and partial least squares analysis was used to fit the model and test the research hypotheses.

Findings

The results of testing the hypotheses show that self-efficacy (hope and resilience) as internal drivers and independence of internal audit performance and perceived supervisor support (external drivers) have a positive effect on moral courage and effectiveness of the internal auditor.

Originality/value

These conclusions suggest that if behavioral incentives are considered, auditors’ level of behavioral audacity in more realistically disclosing the financial performance of their companies can be expected to increase. It should also be noted that the results of this study can increase the level of effectiveness of internal auditors’ functions and their behavioral knowledge in the direction of professional functions.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2017

Maria Vincenza Ciasullo, Silvia Cosimato and Rocco Palumbo

In line with the current literature, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of whistleblowing procedures and their influence on overall…

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Abstract

Purpose

In line with the current literature, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of whistleblowing procedures and their influence on overall organisational quality. To this end, institutional, organisational, and cultural barriers to whistleblowing implementation have been investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative analysis based on three explorative case studies investigates and compares different whistleblowing practices implemented in health care organisations, operating within the Italian National Health Service (INHS).

Findings

INHS organisations have implemented whistleblowing procedures in different ways, despite the fact that the procedures are laid down by law. These differences are mainly due to cultural, administrative, organisational, and process barriers, which have a deep impact on whistleblowing integration in managerial practices and their influence on the overall quality of health processes and services.

Research limitations/implications

This research paper was limited by the analysis of three Italian public health care organisations, which did not allow the generalisability of findings. Therefore, the study offers interesting insights on the way effective whistleblowing systems should be implemented in order to support managers to improve organisation’s management and service quality.

Originality/value

The paper represents one of the first attempts to structurally analyse the practice of whistleblowing in an Italian healthcare system. Therefore the study has mainly focussed not only on the analysis of whistleblowing practices, but also on their impacts on the improvement of organisational processes’ quality and, subsequently, on social well-being.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 November 2014

Peter Yeoh

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the motivation behind whistleblowing, the tussle between internal and external whistleblowing and the extent whistleblowing laws in…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the motivation behind whistleblowing, the tussle between internal and external whistleblowing and the extent whistleblowing laws in the UK and the USA are able to provide protection to whistleblowers. While employees need to be protected against unfair retaliations for making legitimate disclosure, employers seek to prevent irreparable damage from abusive disclosure of sensitive corporate information.

Design/methodology/approach

A mix of legal examination and case study analysis of recent whistleblowing cases in the financial services sector is used in this study. It ergo relies mainly on primary data from recent applicable legislations and secondary data available in the public domain, journal articles, media reports and related academic texts.

Findings

The study’s findings and analysis suggest that whistleblowing law in the UK, namely, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 appears unable to promote effective whistleblowing awareness among working adults and adequate protection to whistleblowers. The situation is broadly similar in the USA with reports of serious employer retaliations though bounty awards available there have brought some relief to whistleblowers. Consequently, whistleblowing to help safeguard public interest is not appropriately encouraged and protected, suggesting the need for further reform initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

The research mitigates the limits of primary secondary data analysis through triangulation of different sources of data and from the use of different perspectives. This paper suggests that whistleblowing laws in the UK and the USA, while assuring protection for workers for reporting wrongdoings internally or externally to prescribed regulatory agencies, can in theory help the early detection of corporate wrongdoings like those witnessed in the 2007 global financial crisis as employees are likely to first witness such activities. In practice, because of fear of employer reprisals and other social and economic costs, whistleblowers frequently hesitated until way too late. The findings suggest that business corporations missed such occasions to beef up their internal controls and demonstration of their commitment to ethical governance; and ergo would need to address such issues more effectively.

Originality/value

The paper contributes insights from a combined corporate management and legal analysis perspective. It suggests that this type of approach and analysis of whistleblowing would be helpful to employers, employees, policymakers and regulators, as whistleblowing is a complex process involving not just the law, but social, psychological and economic considerations. The paper, by providing further insights on the motivations behind whistleblowing including other considerations as well as the impact of current whistleblowing laws in the UK and the USA, supports earlier suggestions on the lack of whistleblowing contributions to various current financial scandals until way too late and the need to review these laws and current internal corporate controls reporting practices.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 56 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

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