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Criminal Violence: Patterns, Causes, and Prevention Riedel and Welsh, Ch. 9 “Workplace Violence”

Criminal Violence: Patterns, Causes, and Prevention Riedel and Welsh, Ch. 9 “Workplace Violence”. Introduction. Costly Workplace violence costs American taxpayers $4 billion to $6 billion annually.

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Criminal Violence: Patterns, Causes, and Prevention Riedel and Welsh, Ch. 9 “Workplace Violence”

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  1. Criminal Violence: Patterns, Causes, and PreventionRiedel and Welsh, Ch. 9“Workplace Violence”

  2. Introduction • Costly Workplace violence costs American taxpayers $4 billion to $6 billion annually. • PsychologicalViolenceIn addition to physical violence, psychological violence includes ostracism, swearing, name calling, rude gestures, deliberate silence. • Multiplier Effects Workplace violence has effects on the victim’s family, organization, and society.

  3. Types of Workplace Violence Type I Criminal Intent Offender has no business relationship with the workplace. Most frequent type; includes robbery and theft Type II Customer/Client Offender is customer/client of worker. Victims are taxi drivers, police, correctional workers. Type III Worker-on-Worker Offender is a former or present employee “Going postal” Type IV Offender has prior relationship with victim carried to workplace. Example: estranged husband kills wife

  4. Workplace Homicide

  5. Workplace Homicide (cont.) • Figure 9.1 shows the three most frequent work-related fatalities • HighwayIncidentsaccount for the largest number of work-related fatalities • Declined to 1149 in 2008 • Falls showed a gradual increase • Number of falls in 2008 were the lowest since 1995 • Workplace Homicides have declined since 1995 • There were 517 workplace homicides in 2008 • Falls in 2008 lowest since 1995

  6. Workplace Homicides (cont.)

  7. Workplace Homicides (cont.) • In Figure 9.2 national homicides and workplace homicides were made comparable with z-scores • Decrease in workplace homicides parallels decline in total homicides. • Females are in more high-risk occupations where they can be attacked by others. • Most victims of workplace homicides are white and between ages 20-54. • Most frequent method of killing was shooting.

  8. Nonfatal Workplace Victimization • Nonviolent workplace violence accounted for 18% of all violent crime from 1993-1996. • The most frequent form of nonfatal victimization is simple assault, followed by aggravated assault, robbery, and rape/sexual assault. • For the 7-year period, most victims were white males. • Highest rate of victimization was for ages 20-49. • Workers divorced or separated had the highest rate of victimization, while widowed workers had the lowest rates.

  9. Offender Characteristics • Offender characteristics as reported by the victim: • Males attack other males 88% and females 13% of the time. • Females are more likely to attack other females. • Most nonfatal victimizations are intraracial. • More than 85% of the attacks involved a single offender. • Slightly more that one third of the victims believed their attacker was using drugs or alcohol. • NCVS reports that 55.6% of the attackers were strangers and 39.4% were casual acquaintances.

  10. Explanations • Routine Activities Theory posits that crime occurs when there is a conjunction of suitable targets, likely offenders, and an absence of suitable guardians • Routine activities theory is particularly useful to test workplace violence because work is very routine. • Research seems to indicate that the theory is best supported where the routine is more or less predictable, such as full-time occupations.

  11. Explanations (cont.) • Rational Choice Theorytakes the view that all aggression is instrumental behavior. • Rational choice actors assess the payment and costs in their aggression, although they are not always correct. • Aggression may lead to workplace violence because of a desire for justice: • Distributive justice occurs when an employee becomes angry and aggressive because he/she feels overworked and underpaid. • Proceduraljustice refers to the fairness of the method used to determine outcomes. • Interactional justiceinvolves situations of showing respect for others.

  12. Interventions • Prevention Policies and Strategies The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health provides a number of prevention strategies: • Environmental Designs refers to procedures that restrict access to cash, bullet-resistant barriers, and restricted access to the location for nonemployees. • Administrative Controls refers to plans and policies for escorting patients and controlling movements within the organization. • Also includes increasing the number of people on duty in retail establishments • Practices regarding the opening and closing of establishments need to be reviewed.

  13. Interventions (cont.) • How Many Organizations Have Workplace Violence Prevention Programs? • Literature review shows a small amount of research on workplace violence. • Suggestions for prevention are common sense rather than based on research. • In a survey of 299 risk managers, 70% of organizations had not undergone risk assessment for possible workplace violence. • Organizations with a stress management plan had a significantly greater number of workplace violence events.

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