SEXUAL HARASSMENT - A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

We critically review the published research on sexual harassment. Defi nitional, epidemiological, etiological, treatment, and prevention issu es are examined as well as the literature on the effects of sexual har assment. Suggestions for future research are provided. Although there are many controversies concerning the definition of sexual harassment, it is clear that there are subtypes of sexual harassment, such as gen der harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion. Existi ng research indicates that sexual harassment is a frequent form of vic timization of women, affecting around half of all women, with verbal h arassment being more common that nonverbal harassment. It appears comm on for sexual harassment victims to experience negative psychological, occupational, and economic consequences, although prospective researc h utilizing valid and comprehensive assessment methods needs to be con ducted. Little is known about the etiology of sexual harassment, altho ugh models that take into account organizational and individual variab les seem to account for more of the variance. Treatment of victims and harassers is hampered by a lack of treatment outcome research. Sugges tions for future research are provided. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.