“Death Threats don’t Just Affect You, They Affect Your Family”: Investigating the Impact of Whistleblowing on Family Identity.

Abstract:

Organizational whistleblowers routinely encounter retaliation such as job
loss, ostracism, intimidation, and death threats which can impact their
“master status,” or core identity. Questions remain about whether
whistleblowing experiences can “spill over” into homes, affecting family
identities. This study aimed to understand how spillover related to
whistleblowing affected family identity, and to identify communicative
factors which influenced family identity (re)construction. Thirty one
individuals, including 15 whistleblowers and 16 family members of
whistleblowers, were interviewed for this study. Data analysis revealed three
family identities emerged from whistleblowing experiences: affirmed families,
wounded families, and fragmented families. Social support processes and
boundary management played key roles in family identity (re)construction.
These findings engender theoretical implications for effective negotiation of
work-home spillover and social support processes, whistleblowing models, and
whistleblowing policies’ impacts on families. Specifically, findings indicate
boundary negotiation that facilitate matching levels of social support was
integral to maintaining healthy family identities.