Abstract
This chapter examines bullying, abuse and harassment as they relate in multiple ways to what are called hidden organizations—those where the identity of the collective and/or its members is communicatively concealed from key audiences. More specifically, several types of hidden organizations are identified that are of special importance here: secret societies, cults, hate groups, organized crime (including gangs), terrorist and counterterrorist groups, organizations engaged in dirty work and a range of others. Relevant literature is examined on each of these types of hidden organizations to uncover potential connections to destructive practices such as bullying, abuse and harassment both internal and external to the hidden organization. The chapter closes with key conclusions about these linkages and directions for continued research in this area.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allan, E. J., & Madden, M. (2012). The nature and extent of college student hazing. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 24(1), 83–90.
Alleyne, E., Fernandes, I., & Pritchard, E. (2014). Denying humanness to victims: How gang members justify violent behavior. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 17(6), 750–762.
Anheier, H. K. (2010). Secret societies. In H. K. Anheier & S. Toepler (Ed.), International encyclopedia of civil society (pt. 19, pp. 1355–1358). New York: Springer Science.
Arnejčič, B. (2016). Mobbing in company: Levels and typology. Organizacija, 49(4), 240–250.
Ashforth, B. E., & Kreiner, G. E. (1999). “How can you do it?”: Dirty work, and the challenge of constructing a positive identity. Academy of Management Review, 24, 413–434.
Awan, I. (2017). Cyber-extremism: Isis and the power of social media. Society, 54(2), 138–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-017-0114-0.
Barnes, A., Cross, D., Lester, L., Hearn, L., Epstein, M., & Monks, H. (2012). The invisibility of covert bullying among students: Challenges for school intervention. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 22(2), 206–226.
Behar, R. (1991). The thriving cult of greed and power. Time, 137(18), 50.
Billig, M. (2001). Humour and hatred: The racist jokes of the Ku Klux Klan. Discourse & Society, 12(3), 267–289.
Bostdorff, D. M. (2004). The internet rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan: A case study in web site community building run amok. Communication Studies, 55(2), 340–361.
Boyle, K. M. (2015). Social psychological processes that facilitate sexual assault within the fraternity party subculture. Sociology Compass, 9(5), 386–399.
Bullman, G. A. (2003). Abuse of female sweatshop laborers: Another form of sexual harassment that does not fit neatly into the judiciary’s current understanding of discrimination because of sex. Indiana Law Journal, 78, 1019–1043.
Carpenter, B., Tait, G., Quadrelli, C., & Thompson, I. (2016). Investigating death: The emotional and cultural challenges for police. Policing and Society, 26(6), 698–712.
Christensen, P. (2010). Struggles with sobriety: Alcoholics Anonymous membership in Japan. Ethnology: An International Journal of Cultural and Social Anthropology, 49, 45–60.
Conquergood, D. (1994). Homeboys and hoods: Gangs and cultural space. In L. R. Frey (Ed.), Group communication in contexts: Studies of natural groups (pp. 23–55). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Costas, J., & Grey, C. (2016). Secrecy at work: The hidden architecture of organizations. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Cowan, R. L. (2009). “Rocking the boat” and “Continuing to fight”: Un/productive justice episodes and the problem of workplace bullying. Human Communication, 12(3), 283–301.
Crane, M. (2015). The tap: An examination of the controversy of secret societies on college campuses. Theses and Dissertations, University of South Carolina
Crawford, M. (2017). International sex trafficking. Women & Therapy, 40(1–2), 101–122.
Curry, G. D., Decker, S. H., & Pyrooz, D. (2014). Confronting gangs: Crime and community (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company.
D’Cruz, P., & Noronha, E. (2013). Navigating the extended reach: Target experiences of cyberbullying at work. Information and Organization, 23(4), 324–343.
Delph, E. W. (1978). The silent community: Public homosexual encounters (Vol. 3). Beverly Hills: Sage.
Dougherty, D. S. (2009). Sexual harassment as destructive organizational process. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. D. Sypher (Eds.), Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing (pp. 203–225). New York: Routledge.
Dussault, M., & Frenette, É. (2015). Supervisors’ transformational leadership and bullying in the workplace. Psychological Reports, 117, 724–733.
Ellis, E. G. (2017, August 17). Whatever your side, doxing is a perilous form of justice. Wired. Retrieved October 31, 2017, from https://www.wired.com/story/doxing-charlottesville/
Elwood, W. N., Greene, K., & Carter, K. K. (2003). Gentlemen don’t speak: Communication norms and condom use in bath houses. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 31, 277–297.
Eyre, A. (1994). Religious cults in twentieth century America. American Studies Today Online, 1. Retrieved June 7, 2011, from http://www.americansc.org.uk/Online/cults.htm
Fitzgerald, L. F. (2017). Still the last great open secret: Sexual harassment as systemic trauma. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 18, 483–489.
Fleming, F. (2016). Workplace bullying: A lesson for OH. Occupational Health, 68(4), 23–25.
Flyverbom, M., Leonardi, P. M., Stohl, C., & Stohl, M. (2016). The management of visibilities in the digital age: Introduction. International Journal of Communication, 10, 98–109.
Foer, A. A. (2000). The politics of antitrust in the United States: Public choice and public choices. University of Pittsburgh Law Review, 62, 475–497.
“Fraternities in Canada”. (1948). The encyclopedia of Canada (Vol. II). University Associates of Canada. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/FraternitiesinCanada.htm
Fritz, G. K. (2006). Awakening to scientology. The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 22, 8.
Gambetta, D. (2009). Codes of the underworld: How criminals communicate. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Goldman, L., Giles, H., & Hogg, M. A. (2014). Going to extremes: Social identity and communication processes associated with gang membership. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 17(6), 813–832.
Goodboy, A. K., & Martin, M. (2015). The personality profile of a cyberbully: Examining the dark triad. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 1–4.
Grow, M. (2012, February). Hidden hazards in the workplace. Chemistry in Australia, 79(1), 32–33.
Hasler, S. (2013). Covert sexism in espionage. World Today, 69(1), 7–7.
Hennigan, K., & Spanovic, M. (2012). Gang dynamics through the lens of social identity theory. In Youth gangs in international perspective (pp. 127–149). New York: Springer.
Hepburn, S., & Simon, R. J. (2010). Hidden in plain sight: Human trafficking in the United States. Gender Issues, 27(1–2), 1–26.
Hetherington, A. (2000). Exploitation in therapy and counselling: A breach of professional standards. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 28(1), 11–22.
Hirsh, M. (1997). Infernal revenue disservice. Newsweek, 130(15), 33.
History that remains hidden. (1997, August 5). New York Times, 146, p. A18.
Hodson, R., Roscigno, V. J., & Lopez, S. H. (2006). Chaos and the abuse of power: Workplace bullying in organizational and interactional context. Work and Occupations, 33(4), 382–416.
Holmes, D., O’Byrne, P., & Gastaldo, D. (2007). Setting the space for sex: Architecture, desire and health issues in gay bathhouses. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 44(2), 273–284.
Hudson, B. A. (2008). Against all odds: A consideration of core-stigmatized organizations. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 252–266.
Hudson, B. A., & Okhuysen, G. A. (2009). Not with a ten-foot pole: Core stigma, stigma transfer, and improbable persistence of men’s bathhouses. Organization Science, 20, 134–153.
Hughes, E. C. (1951). Work and the self. In J. H. Rohrer & M. Sherif (Eds.), Social psychology at the crossroads (pp. 313–323). New York: Harper & Brothers.
Hughes, E. C. (1962). Good people and dirty work. Social Problems, 10, 3–11.
Jenkinson, G. (2013). Working with cult survivors. Therapy Today, 24(4), 18–21.
Keltner, D., Young, R. C., Heerey, E. A., Oemig, C., & Monarch, N. D. (1998). Teasing in hierarchical and intimate relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(5), 1231–1247.
Kibble, D. G. (2016). Beheading, raping, and burning: How the Islamic State justifies its actions. Military Review, 96(2), 28–35.
Kingree, J. B., & Thompson, M. P. (2013). Fraternity membership and sexual aggression: An examination of mediators of the association. Journal of American College Health, 61(4), 213–221.
Klein, A. G. (2015). Vigilante media: Unveiling Anonymous and the hacktivist personal in the global press. Communication Monographs, 82, 379–401.
Konrad, H. (2002). Trafficking in human beings-the ugly face of Europe. Helsinki Monitor, 13, 260.
Kostantopoulos, W. M., Ahn, R., Alpert, E. J., Cafferty, E., McGahan, A., Williams, T. P., Castor, J. P., Wolferstan, N., Purcell, G., & Burke, T. F. (2013). An international comparative public health analysis of sex trafficking of women and girls in eight cities: Achieving a more effective health sector response. Journal of Urban Health, 90, 1194–1204.
Kumar, V., & Skaperdas, S. (2008). On the economics of organized crime. Prepared for inclusion in N. Garoupa (Ed.), Criminal law and economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Lee, J. J. (2005). Human trafficking in East Asia: Current trends, data collection, and knowledge gaps. International Migration, 43(1–2), 165–201.
Lewis, H. (2014). Out of the ordinary. New Statesman, 143(5238), 21.
Lopez, S. H., Hodson, R., & Roscigno, V. J. (2009). Power, status, and abuse at work: General and sexual harassment compared. The Sociological Quarterly, 50, 3–27.
Lutgen-Sandvik, P., & Sypher, B. D. (Eds.). (2009). Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing. New York: Routledge.
Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Namie, G., & Namie, R. (2009). Workplace bullying. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. D. Sypher (Eds.), Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing (pp. 10–27). New York: Routledge.
Mackert, J. (2014). The secret society and the social dynamics of terrorist behavior. Revue de Synthese, 135, 331–359.
MacLean, N. K. (1994). Behind the mask of chivalry: The making of the second Ku Klux Klan. New York: Oxford University Press.
Macy, R. J., Giattina, M., Sangster, T. H., Crosby, C., & Montijo, N. J. (2009). Domestic violence and sexual assault services: Inside the black box. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(5), 359–373.
Malik, S., & Coulson, N. S. (2010). ‘They all supported me but I felt like I suddenly didn’t belong anymore’: An exploration of perceived disadvantages to online support seeking. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 31(3), 140–149.
Martín-Peña, J., Rodríguez-Carballeira, Á., Escartín Solanelles, J., Porrúa García, C., & Willem Winkel, F. (2010). Strategies of psychological terrorism perpetrated by ETA’s network: Delimitation and classification. Psicothema, 22(1), 112.
McGinley, M., Rospenda, K. M., Liu, L., & Richman, J. A. (2016). It isn’t all just fun and games: Collegiate participation in extracurricular activities and risk for generalized and sexual harassment, psychological distress, and alcohol use. Journal of Adolescence, 53, 152–163.
Miller, J. (2002). Violence and coercion in Sri Lanka’s commercial sex industry: Intersections of gender, sexuality, culture, and the law. Violence Against Women, 8(9), 1044–1073.
Murnen, S. K., & Kohlman, M. H. (2007). Athletic participation, fraternity membership, and sexual aggression among college men: A meta-analytic review. Sex Roles, 57(1–2), 145–157.
Neall, A. M., & Tuckey, M. R. (2014). A methodological review of research on the antecedents and consequences of workplace harassment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(2), 225–257.
Neo-Nazi. (n.d.). Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved January 6, 2018, from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-nazi
Newton, P. J., Mulcahy, T. M., & Martin, S. E. (2008). Finding victims of human trafficking. Bethesda: University of Chicago, National Opinion Research Center.
O’Briain, C. (2015). ISIL’s outward expression of internal conflict. USA Today Magazine, 143(2836), 56–58.
Olson, P. (2014, February 14). Anonymous app ‘Secret’ will add more privacy controls. Forbes, p. 3.
Onuoha, B. (2011). The state human trafficking and human rights issues in Africa. Contemporary Justice Review, 14(2), 149–166.
Oram, S., Stöckl, H., Busza, J., Howard, L. M., & Zimmerman, C. (2012). Prevalence and risk of violence and the physical, mental, and sexual health problems associated with human trafficking: Systematic review. PLoS Medicine, 9(5), e1001224.
Paoli, L. (2002). The paradoxes of organized crime. Crime, Law and Social Change, 37(1), 51–97.
Peterson, D., Taylor, T. J., & Esbensen, F. A. (2004). Gang membership and violent victimization. Justice Quarterly, 21(4), 793–815.
Pilch, I., & Turska, E. (2015). Relationships between Machiavellianism, organizational culture, and workplace bullying: Emotional abuse from the target’s and the perpetrator’s perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(1), 83–93.
Pilisuk, M. (1998). The hidden structure of contemporary violence. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 4(3), 197–216.
Ragsdale, K., Porter, J. R., Mathews, R., White, A., Gore-Felton, C., & McGarvey, E. L. (2012). “Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear”: Binge drinking and other risk behaviours among fraternity/sorority members and their non-Greek peers. Journal of Substance Use, 17(4), 323–339.
Reitman, J. (2011). Inside scientology: The story of America’s most secretive religion. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Rhodes, A., & Tscherne-Lempiainen, P. (2002). Human rights and terrorism in the Central Asian OSCE states. Helsinki Monitor, 13(1), 36–51.
Robbins, A. (2002). Secrets of the tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the hidden paths of power. New York: Little, Brown.
Roscigno, V. J., Lopez, S. H., & Hodson, R. (2009). Supervisory bullying, status inequalities and organizational context. Social Forces, 87(3), 1561–1589.
Salter, M. (2012). The role of ritual in the organised abuse of children. Child Abuse Review, 21(6), 440–451.
Samnani, A. K., & Singh, P. (2016). Workplace bullying: Considering the interaction between individual and work environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 139, 537–549.
Sanday, P. R. (2007). Fraternity gang rape: Sex, brotherhood, and privilege on campus (2nd ed.). New York: NYU Press.
Schwartz, L. L., & Kaslow, F. W. (2001). The cult phenomenon: A turn of the century update. American Journal of Family Therapy, 29(1), 13–22.
Scott, C. R. (2013). Anonymous agencies, backstreet businesses, and covert collectives: Rethinking organizations in the 21st century. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Scott, C. R. (2015). Bringing hidden organizations out of the shadows: Introduction to the special issue. Management Communication Quarterly, 29, 503–511.
Scott, C. R., & Haseki, M. (2015). Communication, visibility, and the informal economy: A framework for future research. In P. Godfrey (Ed.), Management, society, and the informal economy (pp. 42–59). New York: Routledge.
Scott, C. R., & Kang, K. (2017). Invisible domains and unexplored terrains: A multi-level view of (in)appropriately hidden organizations. In P. Salem & C. E. Timmerman (Eds.), Transformative practice and research in organizational communication (pp. 43–61). Hershey: IGI Global.
Shelley, L. I., & Picarelli, J. T. (2002). Methods not motives: Implications of the convergence of international organized crime and terrorism. Police Practice and Research, 3(4), 305–318.
Sias, P. (2009). Social ostracism, cliques, and outcasts. In P. Lutgen-Sandvik & B. D. Sypher (Eds.), Destructive organizational communication: Processes, consequences, and constructive ways of organizing (pp. 145–163). New York: Routledge.
Simmel, G. (1906). The sociology of secrecy and of secret societies. American Journal of Sociology, 11(4), 441–498.
Steele, S. L. (2010). ‘Combating the scourge’: Constructing the masculine ‘other’ through US government anti-trafficking campaigns. Journal of Hate Studies, 9(1), 33–64.
Stohl, C., & Stohl, M. (2011). Secret agencies: The communicative constitution of a clandestine organization. Organization Studies, 32(9), 1197–1215.
Thornberry, T. P. (1999). Membership in youth gangs and involvement in serious and violent offending. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 147–166). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Topolnicki, D., & McDonald, E. (1990). Presumed guilty by the IRS. Money, 19(10), 80–89.
Twemlow, S. W., & Sacco, F. C. (2003). Reflections on the making of a terrorist. In C. Covington, P. Williams, J. Arundale, & J. Knox (Eds.), Terrorist and war: Unconscious dynamics of political violence (pp. 97–123). London: Karnac.
Tynes, R. (2006). US counter-terrorism policies in Africa are counter to development. African Security Review, 15, 108–113.
Urban, H. B. (2006). Fair game: Secrecy, security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 74, 356–389.
Van Oudenaren, J. S. (2014). Enduring menace: The triad societies of southeast China. Asian Affairs: An American Review, 41(3), 127–153.
Vickers, M. H. (2014). Towards reducing the harm: Workplace bullying as workplace corruption – A critical review. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 26(2), 95–113.
Waltman, M. S. (2003). Stratagems and heuristics in the recruitment of children into communities of hate: The fabric of our future nightmares. Southern Communication Journal, 69, 22–36.
Ward, D. J. (2011). The lived experience of spiritual abuse. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 14(9), 899–915.
Webb, J. W., Tihanyi, L., Ireland, D., & Sirmon, D. G. (2009). You say illegal, I say legitimate: Entrepreneurship in the informal economy. Academy of Management Review, 34, 492–510.
Weber, E. (1999). Apocalypses: Prophecies, cults, and millennial beliefs through the ages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
White, R., & Mason, R. (2012). Bullying and gangs. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 24(1), 57–62.
Wilkinson, W. C., Jr. (2006). Memories of the Ku Klux Klan in one Indiana town. The Indiana Magazine of History, 102, 339–354.
Williams, P. (2001). Transnational criminal networks. In J. Arquilla & D. Ronfeldt (Eds.), Networks and netwars: The future of terror, crime and militancy (pp. 61–97). Santa Monica: Rand.
Wolfe, A. W., & Blithe, S. J. (2015). Managing image in a core-stigmatized organization: Concealment and revelation in Nevada’s legal brothels. Management Communication Quarterly, 29, 539–563.
Wood, J., Moir, A., & James, M. (2009). Prisoners’ gang-related activity: The importance of bullying and moral disengagement. Psychology, Crime & Law, 15(6), 569–581.
Year in Hate and Extremism. (2017, February 15). Intelligence Report. Retrieved September 30, 2017, from https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2017/year-hate-and-extremism
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Scott, C.R. (2018). Dark Behaviours and Shadowy Places: Bullying, Abuse and Harassment as Linked to Hidden Organizations. In: D'Cruz, P., Noronha, E., Keashly, L., Tye-Williams, S. (eds) Special topics and particular occupations, professions and sectors. Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5154-8_22-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5154-8_22-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5154-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5154-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences