Date of Award

1-1-2008

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Master of Criminal Justice

School

School of Law and Justice

Faculty

Faculty of Business and Law

Abstract

Whistleblowing is not a new phenomenon but recent technological advances, which make corrupt behaviour difficult to hide, have exposed whistleblowingg as a burgeoning problem on several levels: international, national and local. Whistleblowing presents problems not only for the organisation which must deal with the offender, contain any damage to its reputation and manage the problems that enabled the corrupt behaviour in the first place; but it presents problems for the whistleblower. While ultimately an organisation may benefit from a whistleblower's action, the whistle blower's journey is rarely without sacrifices. Individual whistleblowers must call upon personal strengths to report misconduct despite probable adverse consequences. To explore an aspect of contemporary whistle blowing, this research relies on the theory of Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) which identifies five characteristics of whistleblowing behaviour: altruism, courtesy, sportsmanship, civic virtue and conscientiousness (Organ 1990, 1997). Van Dyne, Graham and Dienesch (1394) whose research tested OCB theory, argued that loyalty to the organisation was also an important characteristic. In a later study Paine and Organ (2000) concluded that in Australia. OCBs and loyalty to the organisation are negated by the Australian ethos of "mateship". These concepts are a springboard for the proposed research.

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