Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson: Rethinking the Harms of Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment and the Law: The Mechelle Vinson Case (see record 2004-15182-000) provides an insightful overview of the history of women and work and the excitement of the civil rights movement, a concise yet thorough review of employment discrimination law, and a dynamic play-by-play of the liti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPsycCritiques Vol. 49; no. Supplement 12; p. No Pagination Specified
Main Author Kadela Collins, Karen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Psychological Association 14.12.2004
Subjects
Adjudication
Civil Rights Movement
Employment Discrimination
Female
History
Human
Laws
Policy Making
Sex Discrimination
Sexual Harassment
Social Issues
Working Women
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Summary:Sexual Harassment and the Law: The Mechelle Vinson Case (see record 2004-15182-000) provides an insightful overview of the history of women and work and the excitement of the civil rights movement, a concise yet thorough review of employment discrimination law, and a dynamic play-by-play of the litigation proceedings included in Mechelle Vinson's 13- year-long straggle with the courts. Cochran successfully summarizes the extant research that has been conducted that speaks to the nature and causes of sexual harassment. He surmises that models of sexual harassment can be divided into three main approaches: the naturalistic, the liberal-political, and the sociocultural. The naturalistic perspective approaches sexual harassment as individual behavior rooted in biological and evolutionary drives to perpetuate the species through natural selection. The political view perceives sexual harassment as the product of individual behavior that violates social norms, especially equality, which leads to deviance in the workplace. The third stance combines both inequality in power and cultural stereotypes, which reinforce the idea that dominance is the driving force behind sexual harassment. Overall, the book is well written and organized, with smooth transitions from the history of women and work to the social science behind the law of employment discrimination, followed by the intricate details of Vinson's sexual harassment claim. This book is well suited for use at the graduate level for those interested in the psychology of women, the impact of social science research on the law, or social policies concerning gender discrimination issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
ISSN:1554-0138
1554-0138
DOI:10.1037/040870