Wrongdoing, Whistle-Blowing, and Retaliation in the U.S. Government

Much of the unethical behavior occurring in modern organizations that comes to light is first identified and reported by insiders: organization members who are willing to blow the whistle. Data from surveys of federal employees conducted since 1980 by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) have been analyzed by researchers. These studies have taught us quite a lot about whistle-blowing, but we still need to learn much more. We present here a summary of results from research on the incidence of wrongdoing and whistleblowing, predictors of whistle-blowing, predictors of retaliation against whistle-blowers, and predictors of overall effectiveness of whistle-blowers in getting wrongdoing stopped. We describe key findings and suggest new directions for future research and policy to address the critical questions still remaining concerning whistle-blowing.