WORKPLACE BULLYING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: UNDERSTANDING THE RACIAL DIMENSION

This paper reports the research findings of the experiences of public sector workers of bullying at work across 13 organizations in South Wales. The study explored the experiences of White and Ethnic minority respondents and found that there are significant differences in the type and frequency of bullying behaviours being experienced by the two groups. Ethnic minority respondents are more likely to label themselves as suffering from bullying behaviours than their White counterparts. The evidence presented in this paper demonstrates how line managers use different tactics when bullying Ethnic respondents compared to White respondents. Furthermore, when colleagues bully fellow colleagues, there are subtly different patterns of bullying behaviour towards White and Ethnic victims. Given the specific requirement to comply with the public duty for promotion of racial equality expected under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) , it is important that these findings are recognized by UK public sector organizations.     

STATE POLITICAL CULTURE AND SENTENCE SEVERITY IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURTS

Previous studies have established a strong relationship between state politics and policies and have documented the role of state politics in the recruitment of federal judges. This study uses indicators of the political. policy, and socioeconomic characteristics of the American states to explain variance in the severity of sentences rendered in 1970 cases involving violation of the Selective Service Act. The findings reveal that a substantial proportion of the sentencing variation in these cases is associated with the political, policy, and socioeconomic environments of the state in which the case is adjudicated. Consistent with mast of the literature on state policy variance, it is found that the socioeconomic environment is a more effective predictor than either state politics or policy.