Harassment at work? Empowerment and autonomy as coping strategies of young workers.
There is a considerable number of researches about workplace violence, but few relate young workers and work harassment. This study aimed to investigate the reported perceptions of young apprentices and trainees about moral harassment at work and related coping strategies. Forty adolescent workers (22 men and 18 women) between 15 and 20 years old who received training by a non-governmental organization in São Paulo, Brazil, participated in the study. Data collection included individual and collective interviews. It was used an in-depth semi structured interview protocol. The discourses were analyzed using the hermeneutic-dialectic frame. Results showed that young workers reported little or no knowledge of strategies to cope with moral harassment at work, showing vulnerability to the effects of aggression. Effective coping strategies at work should embrace two important concepts of health promotion: empowerment and autonomy.
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. samturte@usp.br
Samantha Lemos
SL
Turte
Maria Eduarda Cavadinha
ME
Correa
Andrea Aparecida
AA
da Luz
Frida Marina
FM
Fischer
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D001938:Brazil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016272:Occupational Health; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012919:Social Behavior; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult