A Model of Chaplaincy Assistance for Victims of Workplace Bullying: A Qualitative Study Exploring New Resources to...

This research aims to explore the inclusion of religion in the support system for employees experiencing workplace bullying through the activities of chaplains (both clergy and lay) and to create a contextualized model of chaplaincy for addressing workplace bullying. In this study, chaplains and spiritual assistants are seen as members of the 'spiritual mission' of healthcare institutions, responsible for providing pastoral and spiritual support to staff and patients. Workplace bullying causes not only emotional and psychological harm but can also result in deep spiritual problems that require targeted pastoral counselling, guidance, education and support to overcome. However, the organization of such assistance has been little studied to date. Seeking to fill this gap, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted. Applying the methodological approach of informed grounded theory, nine Catholic chaplains and lay spiritual assistants (n = 9) working in six hospitals (n = 6) were interviewed. The in-depth interview method was used. Thematic analysis of the interviewed data indicated that a liminal identity of chaplains and spiritual assistants formed between different religious and secular fields. Utilizing the identified themes a compiled three-layer model (of micro-, meso-, and macro-systems) was developed involving five interacting factors: (1) inter-institutional vacuum (of the Church and healthcare institutions); (2) instrumentalized symbolic capital of the chaplain; (3) the integrity of the spiritual mission; (4) pastoral response to workplace bullying; and (5) support of the religious community. This study highlights structural and institutional conditions that determine whether members of the spiritual mission can appropriately respond to challenges posed by workplace bullying in healthcare settings. These findings expand theoretical understanding of the role of pastoral care in organizations, while also showing what specific indicators help management to recognize systematic gaps which may mitigate chaplains and spiritual assistants from caring for the emotional and religious spiritual well-being of employees.