Workplace violence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Definition
The definition of work related violence that has received pan-European acceptance is as follows:
incidents where people are abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to their safety, well-being or health.
This can involve violence resulting from industrial disputes, although this is not a major factor in most incidents.
This definition establishes violence as a behaviour with the potential to cause harm. Broadly speaking there are three forms:
Non-physical violence (intimidation, abuse, threats etc)
Physical violence (punching, kicking, pushing etc)
Aggravated physical violence (use of weapons, e.g. guns, knives, syringes, pieces of furniture, bottles, glasses, etc)
Violence in all its forms is a concern for staff and management alike. For employers, violence can lead to poor morale and a poor image for the organisation, making it difficult to recruit and keep staff. It can also mean extra costs, such as those associated with absenteeism, higher insurance premiums and legal fees, fines and compensation payments where negligence is proven.
For employees, violence can cause pain, distress and even disability or death. Physical attacks are obviously dangerous but serious or persistent verbal abuse or threats can also damage employees health through anxiety or stress. Peter Vajda identifies workplace gossip as a form of workplace violence, noting that it is "essentially a form of attack."
[edit] Why do people actually resort to violence?
Violence is an example of what is termed functional behaviour. That which can be used by an individual to get what they want, or to provide them with some tangible benefit. They may want faster or better service, they may desire attention or alternatively to be left alone or scare people off. They may wish to acquire cash, drugs or other goods that dont belong to them. They may crave the excitement or notoriety, or it may be the only way they can express themselves or influence others.
[edit] Types of Workplace Violence
By understanding the cause of the violence we will be better able to eliminate, reduce or manage the risk of it occurring. There are four main types of work related violence:
[edit] Criminal violence
Violence perpetrated by individuals who have no relationship with the organisation or victim. Normally their aim is to access cash, stock, drugs, or perform some other criminal or unlawful act.
[edit] Service user violence
Violence perpetrated by individuals who are recipients of a service provided in the workplace or by the victim. This often arises through frustration with service delivery or some other by-product of the organisations core business activities.
[edit] Workeron-worker violence
Violence perpetrated by individuals working within the organisation; colleagues, supervisors, managers etc. This is often linked to protests against enforced redundancies, grudges against specific members of staff, or in response to disciplinary action that the individual perceives as being unjust.
[edit] Domestic violence
Violence perpetrated by individuals, outside of the organisation, but who have a relationship with an employee e.g. partner, spouses or acquaintances. This is often perpetrated within the work setting, simply because the offender knows where a given individual is during the course of a working day.
[edit] Workplace Violence and Aggression
Buss (1961) identified eight types of aggression:
Verbal-passive-indirect (failure to deny false rumors about target, failure to provide information needed by target)
Verbal-passive-direct ("silent treatment", failure to return communication, i.e. phone calls, e-mails)
Verbal-active-indirect (spreading false rumors, belittling ideas or work)
Verbal-active-direct (insulting, acting condescendingly, yelling)
Physical-passive-indirect (causing others to create a delay for the target)
Physical-passive-direct (reducing target's ability to contribute, i.e. scheduling them to present at the end of the day where less people will be attending)
Physical-active-indirect (theft, destruction of property, unnecessary consumption of resources needed by the target)
Physical-active-direct (physical attack, nonverbal, vulgar gestures directed at the target)
In a study performed by Baron and Neuman (1996), researchers found pay cuts and pay freezes, use of part time employees, change in management, increased diversity, computer monitoring of employee performance, reengineering, and budget cuts were all significantly linked to increased workplace aggression. The study also showed a substantial amount of evidence linking unpleasant physical conditions (high temperature, poor lighting) and high negative affect, which facilitates workplace aggression. Workplace Violence and Workplace Aggression: Evidence and Their Relative Frequency and Potential Causes.,
http://web.ebscohost.com.libdatabas...544-f00b-4952-92e9-a990531bbeee@sessionmgr102, retrieved February 24, 2009.
My guess still, they were in affair, she tried to stop it
Police become very tight lipped when asked about this
Possibly the domestic type:waitasec:
I hope justice is served on this for Annie, no matter what their relationship was, it was horrible
