Redressing sexual harassment at work: Using pressure, disorganisation and regulatory failure to advance theoretical understanding

Abstract

This article focuses on a significant psychosocial hazard – sexual harassment. It advances the existing body of theory on the antecedents of sexual harassment by drawing on the pressure, disorganisation and regulatory failure (PDR) framework. In doing so, it develops hypotheses about how the PDR variables contribute to sexual harassment and proposes a research agenda to empirically test them. An improved understanding of the influence of PDR on sexual harassment will also enable an examination of the effectiveness of recent regulatory changes designed to address this destructive and costly problem in Australia, and highlight areas requiring additional intervention.