Victimization and self-esteem of some employees with disabilities: case study employees with disabilities in the city Of Yaounde

Abstract

This study is entitled "victimization and self-esteem of some employees with disabilities in the city of Yaoundé'". This study stems from the victimization experienced by employees with disabilities at their job sites which affect productivity. The main objective of our research is to show that improved self-esteem can reduce the victimization of employees with disabilities. This research is a qualitative study and we made use of the semi-structured interview, the interview guide and the Rosenberg Self -Esteem scale to collect relevant data. To carry out this study, we formulated the main question; how can victimization affect the selfesteem of employees with disabilities? We discovered that, employees with disabilities experience the following victimization at their job sites: isolation, humiliation, discrimination, intimidation, rape, social exclusion and harassment, just to name a few. Our study used thematic content to analyze the data obtained. This study found out that, most employees with disabilities have a negative view of themselves due to daily victimization and as a result of this; their performance or participation is negatively affected. To better discuss the findings on victimization, we made use of the victim precipitation theory of Marvin Wolfgang which holds that, victims play a direct role in the occurrence of a crime. The precipitation act can be passive or active, we also made use of the Routine theory which states that, three conditions must be met for a crime to occur, which are; the availability of the desirable targets, the presence of the willing offenders and the absence of a capable guardian (Pratt and Turanovic 2015), the absence of one will delay victimization from occurring. To discuss the findings on self -esteem we made use of self -theories that throw light on the good self-feeling which serves as a motivation for hard work and the labelling theory of Stager and colleagues (1983) which pinpoints the importance of family support that helps in improving self-esteem. This study concluded that, victimization affects the self-esteem of employees with disabilities negatively which slows down work performance and output. The way forward is that, every disabled worker should strive to build and maintain a positive self-esteem with the support of family and friends. With this, they will experience great performance and quality output at work.