tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/cultural-change-30596/articlesCultural change – The Conversation2022-01-25T13:27:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1714782022-01-25T13:27:46Z2022-01-25T13:27:46ZLife’s stages are changing – we need new terms and new ideas to describe how adults develop and grow<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438111/original/file-20211216-13-1czwi0d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C48%2C5319%2C3519&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These days, people in their 20s are figuring out who they are as adults, rather than experiencing "extended adolescence." </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/elderly-man-saying-goodby-to-family-after-bbq-royalty-free-image/1014771010?adppopup=true"> Hinterhaus Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What image comes to mind when you think of a person in their 20s? </p>
<p>Do you imagine an adult stressed out by the weight of many new responsibilities in family and work roles? </p>
<p>Or do you envision someone who is bursting with hope and undeveloped potential, still more of a kid than an adult, struggling to define a life and making little or no money but managing to find occasional joy nevertheless? Perhaps your soundtrack here is <a href="https://youtu.be/AgFeZr5ptV8">Taylor Swift’s radiant “22”</a>: “We’re happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time. It’s miserable and magical.”</p>
<p>How about when you think of someone in their 60s? </p>
<p>Do you envision someone – or maybe a happy couple – enjoying life, living well, still vigorous but now freer than before from daily work and family duties? </p>
<p>Or do you see someone who is stooped over from a lifetime of carrying burdens, their health diminished, now shuffling toward no particular destination? Here the soundtrack might be the doleful Beatles song “<a href="https://youtu.be/ckV2ogbt8W4">When I’m 64</a>”: “Will you still need me? Will you still feed me? When I’m 64?” </p>
<p>The whole arc of adult development has changed over the past several decades, in ways that our psychological theories are still catching up with. In the 21st century, does it still make sense to refer to “young adulthood,” “midlife” and “late adulthood,” as psychologists have been doing for so long? If not, what are more accurate concepts? </p>
<p>Most of my career <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8bvGDaYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">as a developmental psychologist</a> has been devoted to answering these questions. My theory of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10842426/">emerging adulthood</a> recognizes that the lives of younger adults have changed vastly since the 1960s. As the father of 22-year-old twins, I’m keenly aware of their journey through the new life stage I have been researching and writing about for so long. As a 64-year-old, I’m also turning my attention to how the 60s have changed from what they used to be. </p>
<h2>A longer-than-ever journey to adulthood</h2>
<p>In my research over the past two decades, I’ve found that people ages 19 to 29 are neither fully adult nor in an “extended adolescence” – as this time of life was viewed over the course of the 20th century. In the early 21st century, these years had become a time of gradually and often erratically making one’s way toward <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Adulthood-Winding-Through-Twenties/dp/0199929386/ref=sr_1_2?crid=KJSM1BSQUMBJ&keywords=jeffrey+jensen+arnett&qid=1637252495&s=books&sprefix=Jeffrey+Jensen%2Caps%2C175&sr=1-2">a more established adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>I invited scholars from all over the world to contribute to a special issue of American Psychologist, one of the top journals in psychology, on the theme of <a href="https://doi.apa.org/fulltext/2020-29966-001.html">“Rethinking Adult Development: New Ideas for New Times.”</a> The recently published results are a wonderfully diverse set of papers that go a long way toward reconceptualizing what adult development looks like now and where it might be going. </p>
<p>Most of the authors were developmental psychologists. About half were Americans and half were Europeans, although <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7474435/">Shinobu Kitayama and his colleagues</a> offered a refreshingly different Asian cultural perspective. </p>
<p>Here are some of the highlights:</p>
<p>– Ages 30 to 45 are now “the rush hour of life.” Today people around the world wait later than ever to marry and have kids, and most have only one or two. But then couples typically have the dual challenge of trying to move ahead in their careers while also handling the intense responsibilities of caring for young children. Women have vastly greater opportunities in education and work than they did in 1960, which is welcome but also presents new challenges and stresses. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000600">their contribution</a> to the special issue, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Famp0000600">Clare Mehta and her colleagues</a> propose the term “established adulthood” to distinguish these years as the most intense and demanding years of adult life, characterized by the “career-and-care-crunch,” when obligations are high in both work and family roles.</p>
<p>– In midlife – ages 45-60 – the crunch years of caring for young children abate. Adults reach their peak career earnings and status in their late 40s and 50s. But life can become complicated, as new responsibilities may arise with grandchildren and with aging parents who need more assistance. </p>
<p>Overall, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000591">Frank Infurna and colleagues detail</a> in their contribution, mental health declines in midlife. Reports of depression and anxiety increase. Seeking professional help for mental health issues reaches a lifetime peak.</p>
<p>Furthermore, midlife well-being, health and life expectancy have declined notably in the U.S. since 2000, especially among working-class adults who have been left behind by the information-and-technology economy. This has led to an epidemic of <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691190785/deaths-of-despair-and-the-future-of-capitalism">“deaths of despair”</a> from suicide, opioid overdoses or alchoholism.</p>
<p>– Adults in later life, ages 60-75, are thriving like never before. Although life after age 60 is traditionally regarded as a time of inevitable decline, the reality of it has become sharply different –and better – in recent decades. </p>
<p>Life expectancy at birth is higher now than it has ever been, worldwide, and adults are smarter and healthier for longer than ever. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000596">Denis Gerstorf and his colleagues</a> show how these positive trends have taken place across many countries over the past century because of improvements in education, nutrition and health care. </p>
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<p>Physical health issues do arise with age for most people, but more people than ever before stay healthy through their 60s and early 70s by maintaining healthy diet and physical exercise practices. One of the exciting recent findings highlighted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000612">in Ursula Staudinger’s article</a> is that regular exercise promotes mental health as well as physical well-being, helping to maintain mental sharpness and prevent Alzheimer’s disease.</p>
<p>Life satisfaction also seems to rise in later life, as we gain a new freedom to choose the kind of work we do – or stop working altogether and spend more time with the people we care about most. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000615">According to Phillip Ackerman and Ruth Kanfer</a>, more people are working into their late 60s and early 70s than ever before, but they have more freedom to choose how they do it, whether it’s working part time, starting a small business or trying something they have always wanted to do. </p>
<h2>Adulthood’s new arc requires new concepts and ideas</h2>
<p>Over my decades of writing about emerging adulthood, I’ve learned that it matters how people think about the stages of human development. Thinking shapes expectations and how experiences are interpreted. Lots of compelling and exciting new findings about adult development point to the importance of rethinking previous theories, assumptions and stereotypes about the course of adult life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171478/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Arnett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Views of the stages of adulthood are stuck in the early 20th century, even though they’ve changed a lot over the past 100 years.Jeffrey Arnett, Senior Research Scholar, Department of Psychology, Clark UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1069672018-11-21T11:49:39Z2018-11-21T11:49:39ZRock ‘n’ roll is dying in Bangladesh<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246524/original/file-20181120-161621-1o0xso5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'It's really difficult to live as a rock musician in Bangladesh," says Samir Hafiz, a guitarist in the heavy metal band Warfaze. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/warfazefans/photos/p.10157052113310832/10157052113310832/?type=1&theater">Facebook</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The seeds of rock ‘n’ roll culture were planted in Bangladesh during the birth of the country in 1971, after a war for liberation separated this majority-Muslim territory from Pakistan. </p>
<p>For most of the 20th century, the region was a traditional Southasian agrarian society. Its soundtrack: Bengali folk music, featuring instruments like the tabla drum set, harmonium pump organ and the ek tara, a one-stringed guitar.</p>
<p>Then came a bloody war for freedom. And that political rebellion allowed some musical rebellion to take root, too, as my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NVrdzV4AAAAJ&hl=en">historic research in the country shows</a>. </p>
<h2>Rock spurs social change</h2>
<p>After independence, a handful of Bangladeshi performers – top among them <a href="http://www.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/2287/2015-06-05">Azam Khan</a>, a freedom fighter-turned-musician – began looking West for artistic inspiration, listening to Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison and The Doors. </p>
<p>Khan’s band Uccharon introduced drums, guitars and keyboards into their renditions of local music. Bangladeshi audiences had never heard anything like it. With his long hair, bell-bottom jeans, stadium concerts and powerful lyrics – which often delivered a social and political message – Khan became a pop culture phenomenon. </p>
<p>In one famous track from 1970s, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFBmFwuYzms&start_radio=1&list=RDkFBmFwuYzms&t=53">Bangladesh</a>,” Khan paints a grim picture of his young nation, which was gripped by extreme poverty and <a href="https://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Eneudc2012/docs/paper_289.pdf">famine</a>. </p>
<p>He sings of a boy “born in a slum near the rail lines” whose death leaves “his hopeless mom crying.” Throughout the melancholic, guitar-driven song, Khan depicts the desperation of Bangladesh’s early years, punctuating his lament with cries of “Oh, Bangladesh!”</p>
<p>Khan, who died in 2011, influenced a generation of young Bangladeshis to critically reflect on their country’s traditions.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kFBmFwuYzms?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The late Azam Khan, performing here in 2005, brought rock to Bangladesh in the 1970s.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As in the United States a decade prior, where rock music helped <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Shook-Up-Changed-American/dp/0195177495">change cultural values</a> about race, religion and sexuality, Bangladeshi rock ‘n’ roll – dominated by Azam Khan’s star power – showed people that a different life was possible. </p>
<p>Khan “was a rebel to the dominant culture,” said one man I interviewed, who saw Khan live in the 1980s. He traded his traditional Bengali garb for jeans, he said, because “I saw Azam Khan used to wear jeans.”</p>
<p>The changes Khan pushed went beyond aesthetics. </p>
<p>“He was redefining Bangladeshi culture and promoting liberal values like freedom,” the man told me. “Freedom from conservative values.”</p>
<p>As another fan said, “We were becoming politically aware.”</p>
<h2>Bangladeshi rock goes mainstream</h2>
<p>Political awareness was a subversive thing in newly independent Bangladesh.</p>
<p>Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the government alternated between <a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/article/shifting-tides-south-asia-bangladesh%E2%80%99s-failed-election">military dictatorship, illiberal democracy and autocracy</a>. And though rural development spurred some economic growth, 41 percent of <a href="https://www.theigc.org/blog/can-we-eradicate-extreme-poverty-in-bangladesh-2/">Bangladeshis still lived in extreme poverty</a> by the early 1990s. </p>
<p>Founded as a secular nation, Bangladesh – which has a Muslim population <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-religion/article/who-supports-suicide-terrorism-in-bangladesh-what-the-data-say/F2A83C327946BBA345752E09A7A64DFE">bigger than</a> that of Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt combined – adopted Islam as its state religion in 1988. </p>
<p>That decision, which the nation’s highest court <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/bangladesh-court-upholds-islam-religion-state-160328112919301.html">upheld in 2016</a>, made Bangladesh more socially and religiously conservative. </p>
<p>Rock culture was a kind of alternative universe – one where criticism of the government was encouraged and religious zealotry was uncool. </p>
<p>Guns N’ Roses, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith all became popular in Bangladesh in the 1990s. Local groups with English names – the metal pioneers <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/feature/2018/09/04/rockstrata-to-premiere-reunion-show-dvd-on-silver-screen">Rockstrata</a>, hard-rocking <a href="https://www.facebook.com/warfazefans/">Warfaze</a>, the popular <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Runs_Blind_(LRB)">Love Runs Blind</a> and a dozen others – performed to stadiums full of long-haired fans wearing tee shirts, boots and chain necklaces. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246516/original/file-20181120-161638-4amve3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Bangladeshi band Rockstrata, in 1985.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockstrata#/media/File:RS_First_Lineup.jpg">Mahbub19702002/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was revolutionary in a place where musical performances were historically quiet, calm and disciplined.</p>
<p>Rock concerts were loud. Fans smoked cigarettes, headbanged, and got in fights. Artists used alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, if not as heavily as their American or British counterparts. </p>
<h2>A rock democracy</h2>
<p>As Bangladesh’s economy opened up to the world in the late 1990s – its <a href="http://www.ide.go.jp/library/Japanese/Publish/Download/Report/2011/pdf/410_ch6.pdf">textile exports</a> leaving the country while Hollywood films and luxury vehicles <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alyssaayres/2014/10/28/bangladesh-capitalist-haven/">flowed in</a> – inequality also <a href="https://www.jica.go.jp/activities/issues/poverty/profile/pdf/bangladesh_e.pdf">rose quickly</a>, particularly in rapidly growing cities, where poverty persisted and new wealth accumulated.</p>
<p>Bangladeshi rockers were unsparing critics of these disparities.</p>
<p>In the 1998 track “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yckKfuVqkkI">Dhushor Manchitro</a>,” or “Faded Map,” the metal band Warfaze sings of a “hopeless time,” with “dead bodies on the street every day” and “arrogant blue Mercedes” rushing past, “democracy winking” at the injustice.</p>
<p>In the 1997 track “Gonotontro,” or “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLr2nPdWnGI">Democracy</a>,” singer Maqsood O’ Dhaka calls Bangladesh’s democracy a “constitutional thugocracy.” </p>
<p>Rock artists also denounced Bangladesh’s growing religious conservatism. </p>
<p>In the video for his anti-militancy song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtOlVObjbLo">Parwardigar</a>,” Maqsood O’ Dhaka opens with an anti-extremist message. Over images of terrorist attacks and peace rallies, he insists that “blind fanatics and fundamentalists simply cannot snatch away our future.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RtOlVObjbLo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>The decline of Bangladeshi rock</h2>
<p>Most of those social and economic problems have only <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/bangladesh">worsened since then</a>.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who took power in 2008, has overseen some remarkable <a href="https://editorials.voa.gov/a/outstanding-progress-bangladesh/4227027.html">economic development</a>. Today, Bangladesh is a <a href="https://medium.com/@stitchdiary/what-makes-bangladesh-a-hub-of-garment-manufacturing-ce83aa37edfc">manufacturing hub</a> with a <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/bangladesh-sources-of-economic-growth-by-kaushik-basu-2018-04">booming economy</a>.</p>
<p>But while there’s good news economically, Hasina’s administration has suppressed <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2018/10/04/bangladeshs-slide-towards-authoritarianism-is-accelerating">dissent</a> in Bangladesh. </p>
<p>In the past year, two outspoken government critics – the photographer <a href="http://www.bjp-online.com/2018/10/alam-award/">Shahidul Alam</a> and sociology professor <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/court/2018/10/30/cu-teacher-maidul-islam-freed-on-bail">Maidul Islam</a> – were jailed for spreading “propaganda and false information,” a charge that carries up to 14 years in prison. </p>
<p>The nonprofit group <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/08/bangladesh-end-crackdown-opposition-supporters">Human Rights Watch</a> has called on Hasina’s government to stop the arbitrary arrests of opposition activists. Bangladesh’s <a href="http://www.newagebd.net/article/42635/jails-crammed-with-85859-inmates">prisons</a> reportedly house <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-09/hasina-looks-to-extend-10-year-bangladesh-rule-in-dec-23-vote">thousands</a> of people <a href="https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/opposition-arrests-10092018173451.html">charged</a> with “subversive activities.” </p>
<p>Religious extremism is also <a href="https://theconversation.com/faith-dissent-and-extremism-how-bangladesh-is-struggling-to-stay-secular-68927">rising</a> in Bangladesh. Since 2013 a string of violent attacks targeting <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22424708">secular bloggers</a>, artists, religious minorities and free thinkers has shown the narrowing scope of civil liberties and acceptable public discourse. </p>
<h2>The decade the music died</h2>
<p>Bangladeshis could use a protest music like rock. Instead, rock culture is fading away.</p>
<p>Partly, it has lost ground to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10714420601168491?src=recsys&journalCode=gcrv20">Bollywood music</a> from neighboring India, with its colorful power anthems celebrating life and love. Bollywood songs dominates Bangladeshi radio, and pirated versions are available online for free. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, a budding underground hip-hop scene <a href="https://theconversation.com/bangladeshi-rappers-wield-rhymes-as-a-weapon-with-tupac-as-their-guide-96324">has largely replaced rock as music of Bangladeshi rebellion</a>.</p>
<p>Domestic law has also failed to protect the financial interests of the artists who once drove Bangladesh’s vibrant rock scene. Industry groups <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/uncategorized/2013/09/14/stop-piracy-to-protect-music-industry-urge-musicians">say</a> that just 10 percent of music in Bangladesh is purchased legally and estimate that music piracy annually costs US$180 million in lost earnings. </p>
<p>“Ideas such as intellectual rights and royalties are not strongly embedded in our culture,” Samir Hafiz, Warfaze’s guitarist, told me. “It’s really difficult to live as a rock musician in Bangladesh.”</p>
<p>Increased religiosity, which rejects all things Western in favor of a traditional lifestyle, has also hurt Bangladesh’s rock scene. Some young Muslims I spoke with even <a href="https://resolvenet.org/research/language-youth-politics-bangladesh-beyond-secular-religious-binary">see rock ‘n’ roll as a sin</a>. </p>
<p>Rock music helped change Bangladesh. Now, there’s little room left for it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mubashar Hasan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For decades, Bangladesh had a very vibrant – and highly political – rock scene. But the genre is struggling to survive the country’s crackdown on dissent and increasing Islamic conservatism.Mubashar Hasan, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of OsloLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/643062016-08-25T00:31:24Z2016-08-25T00:31:24ZWhy is sexual harassment in the AFP systemic? And can the culture be changed?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135286/original/image-20160824-30249-1u5ecnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tackling entrenched sexualised mistreatment in a large organisation such as the Australian Federal Police is far more than a numbers game.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Lukas Coch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A report <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/Broderick">released this week</a> revealed widespread and entrenched sexual harassment and bullying in the ranks of the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Like <a href="http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/our-projects-a-initiatives/independent-review-victoria-police">similar reviews</a> before it, the extent and severity of sexual harassment in the AFP was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/sexual-harassment-and-bullying-are-pervasive-in-afp-major-review-finds-20160822-gqy2b1.html">reported as</a> “shocking”. The problem was also <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/sexual-harassment-incidents-high-in-afp-workplaces-review-finds/7772382">described as</a> “systemic” and requiring significant “cultural reform”. </p>
<p>Acknowledging that sexual harassment is an issue that goes beyond individual behaviour <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/guides/sexual-harassment">is critical</a>. But what makes sexual harassment systemic? And how can the AFP and other organisations achieve the cultural reform needed to respond adequately? </p>
<h2>What makes sexual harassment a systemic problem?</h2>
<p>To say a workplace problem is systemic means its underlying causes are deeply embedded in an organisation’s structures and everyday practices.</p>
<p>Although it is individuals who perpetrate negative conduct in the workplace, the norms of a particular environment may allow or even encourage such behaviours.</p>
<p>In the case of sexual harassment, the systemic causes have a gendered basis. In policing and other male-dominated environments, stereotypical masculine qualities are often valorised, while feminine qualities are denigrated. </p>
<p>While women are the predominant targets of sexual harassment, this explains why gay men (or those thought to be gay) are at higher risk of being sexually harassed.</p>
<p>If a man violates dominant norms of masculine behaviour, he may well <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2016/03/24/men-are-targets-of-sexual-harassment-at-work-far-more-commonly-than-we-assume/">become a target</a> – usually by other men and occasionally by women. In a similar way, when women sexually harass men, this is thought to be because they buy into dominant male stereotypes and behave this way to “fit in”.</p>
<p>Sexual harassment is more likely to occur in workplaces that are characterised by: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>a <a href="http://www.surgeons.org/media/22045694/PersonalStoriesReport_FINAL.pdf">patronage system of training</a>, where trainees depend on a small group of powerful, senior (usually male) colleagues for entry into training, job opportunities and career progression;</p></li>
<li><p>violence-supportive attitudes;</p></li>
<li><p>conservative norms of gender or sexuality, including the sexualisation and subordination of women;</p></li>
<li><p>celebrity status and entitlement and an associated <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/AFL/Files/Respect_&_Responsibility_Policy.pdf">lack of accountability</a> for one’s actions;</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2015/12/08/victoria-police-report_n_8754618.html?utm_hp_ref=australia&ir=Australia">male bonding</a>, where codes of mateship and loyalty in tightly knit male groups intensify sexism and encourage group loyalties to override personal integrity;</p></li>
<li><p>excessive consumption of drugs and especially alcohol, which is a potential risk factor for sexual assault; </p></li>
<li><p>little or no access to flexible work, or career penalties associated with using them;</p></li>
<li><p>hazing or abusive initiation ceremonies targeted at newcomers; and</p></li>
<li><p>a tolerance or even celebration of promiscuity where women are objectified as potential sexual partners. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>How can workplace culture be reformed?</h2>
<p>Shifting the “workplace culture” often lies at the heart of goals to achieve systemic change. </p>
<p>But, in reality, putting a finger on what precisely constitutes culture is more difficult. More observable, and therefore more amenable to change, is a focus on an organisation’s functions and everyday practices.</p>
<p>News reports discussing sexual harassment in the AFP <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/sexual-harassment-incidents-high-in-afp-workplaces-review-finds/7772382">focused on</a> the prevalence and nature of the harassment experienced. They also emphasised diversity and gender representation as being key to tackling the problem. </p>
<p>Increasing the numbers of women, especially in senior roles, is often thought to be a key strategy in preventing sexual harassment and achieving broader gender equality. </p>
<p>Few would deny recruitment, retention and promotion initiatives that improve opportunities for women are critical. The lack of representation of women, especially at leadership levels, is both a symptom of and contributing factor to discrimination and harassment.</p>
<p>However, tackling entrenched sexualised mistreatment in a large, dispersed organisation such as the AFP is far more than a numbers game. Compliance strategies such as policy, education and training – while important – are insufficient by themselves to reform workplace culture. </p>
<p>Critical to effective responses is leadership that publicly acknowledges harm, advocates for change, and rejects unprofessional and inappropriate behaviour. </p>
<p>Although often seen as unrelated, access to flexible work arrangements is also integral to improving the status of women and preventing discrimination and harassment. This was observed <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-01-09/moroney-pledges-zero-tolerance-on-sexual-misconduct/2168790">as early as 2006</a> in a report on sexual harassment in the New South Wales Police Force. </p>
<p>Women who become pregnant, take parental leave and return to work (especially part-time) often face significant discrimination and gender-based hostility – especially if their positions are not back-filled. They are seen as unavailable, uncommitted and contributing to a situation where their colleagues have to work longer and harder. </p>
<p>Research suggests organisational complaints channels and disciplinary processes in relation to sexual harassment are also <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0277539511000525">frequently inadequate</a>. The establishment of confidential, victim-centric mechanisms through which internal complaints can be received and managed is essential. This gives targets of sexual harassment confidence their complaints will be dealt with in a safe, sensitive manner.</p>
<p>Managers, whatever the workplace context, often set the standards of behaviour around gender equality. They should be rewarded for good work performance and supported in calling out and disciplining unprofessional sexualised misconduct in its early stages. Such measures are indicative of improved investment in people-management skills.</p>
<h2>What organisations can expect during a reform process</h2>
<p>Research has long established that any organisation that embarks on a focused process of reform around gender equality should expect that not everyone will be on board. </p>
<p>Many employees will acknowledge reform is essential and strongly support the organisation in achieving change. However, some backlash is inevitable. </p>
<p>As a <a href="http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/our-projects-a-initiatives/independent-review-victoria-police">review of Victoria Police</a> found, some will deny value in a more diverse workforce. Some will not be able to adjust to a workplace that demands gender equality and respect for women. Others will contend that concerns are infrequent and historical, and that measures to tackle entrenched gender inequality are unfair or a form of “reverse discrimination”. </p>
<p>The risk of backlash is that women will be further victimised in the wake of such reforms. </p>
<p>The AFP has acknowledged sexual harassment is widespread and serious, caused by systemic failures in the organisation, and demands reform so women can experience safety and dignity in their workplace. In doing so, there is an opportunity to embody what should be core aspirations in Australian society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paula McDonald receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is an expert panel member of the Independent Review into Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment, including Predatory Behaviour in Victoria Police, which is being conducted by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. </span></em></p>To say a workplace problem is systemic means that its underlying causes are deeply embedded in the structures and everyday practices of an organisation.Paula McDonald, Professor of Work and Organisation, ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.