The Social Impact of Sexual Harassment: A Resource Manual for Organizations and Scholars

by John Markert

In The Social Impact of Sexual Harassment, sociologist John Markert presents a compact but comprehensive history of the concept of sexual harassment in the United States a history which shows that corporations and other social institutions have made significant progress in combating the problem. Markert frames his study with a social constructionist perspective, which, he says, traces "the evolution of social problems to appreciate how the problem has risen, been framed by involved parties, and entered the public sphere. It does this by examining not only why the issue of sexual harassment emerged as an issue when it did, but also how sexual harassment has changed over time." Indeed, Markert shows that the definition of sexual harassment is fluid and has changed considerably since it was first introduced in the 1970s. He also examines how U.S. policy and law on sexual harassment is affecting other countries around the world. For this, he develops a 10-stage (or tier) model in which he

254 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published November 16, 2010