Several years ago, Allen K. Hess contacted me and asked if I would be interested in editing a book on deviant workplace behavior. Allen, up until his untimely death in 2010, was the Psychology & Crime Series editor for NYU Press. How important a topic is deviant workplace behavior? All one need do is turn on the evening news or read a local newspaper to be reminded of the fact that deviant and criminal behavior are common occurrences in the workplace. Indeed, most employees have either witnessed or engaged in some form of counterproductive, insidious, abhorrent, or illegal behavior while on the job. Be it a CEO who “cooks the books,” an hourly wage employee who “borrows” office supplies, or a disgruntled employee who commits a heinous act of violence, inappropriate behavior at work is pandemic. As Allen once told me, “Crime in the workplace extends from the mailroom to the boardroom.” I believe, as Allen did, that gaining insight into the psychological and organizational causes of deviant and criminal behavior in the workplace will make a significant contribution to a number of disciplines, as well as society in general.
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