Mistreatment in Organizations, Edited by Pamela Perrewé, Jonathon Halbesleben, and Christopher Rosen (2015) Bingley, UK: Emerald, 270 pages. ISBN: 978-1-78560-117-0

This is the 13th volume of a series of books on research in occupational health and well-being. The first six volumes were edited by Daniel C. Ganster and Pamela L. Perrewé, whereas volumes seven to thirteen were edited by Pamela L. Perrewé, Jonathon R. B. Halbesleben, and Christopher C. Rosen. The fact that the series includes so many volumes on the topic of occupational health and well-being in itself lends testimony to current interest in this area of workplace health and safety. We have indeed witnessed a proliferation of stress research, especially with regard to mistreatment in organizations. Volume 13 is very much the product of a competent team of authors based for the most part in the United States (22) or Canada (3). Thirteen of the members of the editorial advisory board are based in the United States, one in Switzerland, another in Germany, and another in Canada (Saint-Mary’s University is mistakenly identified as based in the United States). Although this configuration may reflect actual country-based interest in the topic of mistreatment, it does seem strange considering that a good deal of interesting research on occupational stress now emanates from Europe. The volume contains eight chapters dealing with mistreatment. Some of these deal with mistreatment per se and others with specific forms of mistreatment such as aggression, incivility, ostracism, and abuse. The table of contents lists the eight chapters sequentially, but the overview presented by the editors in the preliminary pages makes it clear that the chapters can be sorted into three sections. The first section includes two chapters examining customer mistreatment. The second section includes four chapters that explore a variety of forms of organizational mistreatment. The third and final section of this volume includes two chapters on contextual, conceptual, and measurement issues surrounding organizational mistreatment research. A first challenge with the structure of this book is that it is not reflected in the table of contents. A second challenge is that it does not make clear the difference between customer mistreatment, organizational mistreatment, mistreatment in organizations, and mistreatment by organizations. At first glance, “mistreatment in organizations,” the title of the volume, might be interpreted as mistreatment within the organization or relating to the mistreatment of employees. The fact that the first two chapters deal with the mistreatment of external stakeholders (i.e. customers) rather suggests “mistreatment by organizations.” How is organizational mistreatment different from mistreatment in organizations? Can the organization be considered an entity that engages in the mistreatment of individuals, groups, or other entities? Unfortunately, the overview of the volume does not connect the dots in a way that would provide the reader with at least a general idea of the rationale supporting the structure of the volume. It might have been helpful as well to provide some basic definitions or a general conceptual model that integrates the variety of concepts used across sections and chapters. Beyond the general structure and flow of the book, the fundamental question for the reader of a volume like this one is whether it provides clear answers and specific guidance relating to the topic of mistreatment in organizations. Being myself involved in research in this area, my understanding is that scholars will most likely consult only those chapters most closely associated with their work and current thinking. With this in mind, I will focus my brief review of each chapter with a focus on the main concepts and theories being leveraged. The idea here is not to provide a detailed review of each chapter but rather some anchors that will help scholars and thinkers decide whether or not to access and …