Dissertation
AN EXAMINATION OF EMPLOYEE REINTEGRATION IN THE AFTERMATH OF WORKPLACE WRONGDOING
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000002392
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/119502
Abstract
This three-essay dissertation explores the construct of workplace reintegration, which is the process of regaining support from key organizational members (e.g. victims, third-party observers, coworkers, managers, and others) following workplace transgressions. Literature on reintegration has predominantly been conceptual in nature and there has been very little empirical research on this phenomenon. This dissertation calls for a more comprehensive investigation of this construct. To examine this phenomenon, I have conducted three empirical studies.
The first essay examines how employees reintegrate themselves back into their organizations in the aftermath of their own wrongdoing. Using a restorative justice perspective, I theorize that offender reparative actions influence the likelihood of successful offender reintegration both directly and via the mediating influence of forgiveness on the part of the victim, the workplace community, and self. This study finds that reintegration is directly influenced by offender amends in the form of workgroup relationship repair and forgiveness from workgroup members. Additionally, the results indicate that victim forgiveness and self-forgiveness mediate this relationship depending on whether the offender was a manager or a non-manager employee.
The second and third essays explore the “bright side” and “dark side” of workplace reintegration. In the second essay, I test if successful reintegration leads to a wide range of positive organizational outcomes as suggested by conceptual reintegration literature. Utilizing the needs-based perspective, I argue that successful reintegration can satisfy offender unmet needs, which in turn may lead to positive behavioral outcomes. Results of this study find that offender perceptions of successful reintegration is directly associated with desirable organizational outcomes, and that some of these relationships are also mediated through offender need satisfaction, specifically dignity and organizational belonging. The third essay is an exploratory study that investigates the potential negative outcomes of offender reintegration. Specifically, this paper examines how offender perceptions of successful or unsuccessful reintegration can cause reoffending behavior that is intended to help or harm the organization. The results from this study find that offender reintegration is associated with dark side outcomes, and that perceived victimization, perceived interactional justice, and supervisor identification consistently mediated these relationships.
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Details
- Title
- AN EXAMINATION OF EMPLOYEE REINTEGRATION IN THE AFTERMATH OF WORKPLACE WRONGDOING
- Creators
- Natalie S Liberman
- Contributors
- Kenneth Butterfield (Advisor)Kenneth Butterfield (Committee Member)Jerry Goodstein (Committee Member)Thomas Tripp (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Carson College of Business
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 168
- Identifiers
- 99900606651901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation