Workplace Violence: Myths, Facts and The Experience of Nova Scotian Workers

Workplace Violence: Myths, Facts and The Experience of Nova Scotian Workers E. Kevin Kelloway, Ph.D. Senior Research Fellow Professor of Management and Psychology

“Work, is by its very nature, about violence—to the spirit as well as to the body. It is about ulcers as well as accidents, about shouting matches as well as fistfights, about nervous breakdowns as well as kicking the dog around. It is, above all (or beneath all), about daily humiliations. To survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great many of us (Terkel, 1974, p. xi). Terkel, S. (1974). Working: People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do. New York: Pantheon.

Some Landmark Events • Going Postal - Postal Shootings in the U.S. Mid 1990s • OCTRANSPO shootings in Canada - 1999 • Columbine Massacre - 1999 • September 11, 2001

Some Definitions • AGGRESSION: behavior that is enacted by an individual(s) within or outside an organization, intended to physically or psychologically harm a worker or workers, and occurs in a work-related context (Schat & Kelloway, 2005) • VIOLENCE the attempted, threatened or actual conduct of a person that endangers the health or safety of an employee, including any threatening statement or threatening behaviour that gives an employee reasonable cause to believe that the employee is at risk of injury.(NS Department of Environment & Labor, 2006) • All violence is aggression, but not all aggression is violence

Myths and Facts .

Data • Taken from wave 1 of the Nova Scotia Workplace Stress Survey (Kelloway & Francis, 2006) • Representative sample of 1400 Nova Scotians • Asked How Many times they • had been hit, kicked or shoved • had an object thrown at them • had been threatened with physical assault • had been threatened with a weapon

Myth #1 Workplace violence doesn’t happen • Schat, Frone & Kelloway (2006). Representative sample of U.S. workers, • 6% experience physical attacks (excluding threats) • 41% experience aggression (threats, profanity etc)

The Nova Scotian Experience • 20.9% reported being a victim of violence (as defined in NS) • 9% were hit, kicked or shoved • 11.8% had objects thrown at them • 12.6% were threatened with physical assault • 2.7 % were threatened with a weapon

Myth #2 The Disgruntled Employee • Almost all physical violence in the workplace originates with clients or members of the public • Coworker-coworker or Supervisor-coworker violence is extremely rare • Cannot even be evaluated in many studies • Schat, Frone & Kelloway (2006) workers are 4 times more likely to experience violence from members of the public than from supervisors or coworkers

The Nova Scotian Experience

Myth #3: Violence is Random/ Unpredictable • Even when dealing with actively psychotic individuals, violence is a predictable phenomenon. • Schat et al. (2006) = violence varies by occupation, gender, age, education • There are known risk factors for violence – based on both occupational and individual characteristics

LeBlanc & Kelloway (2002):Risk factors for occupational violence include: • Dealing with the public • Denying a service • Making decisions that influence others’ lives • Supervising/disciplining others • Security functions/physical control • Working nights, weekends, alone • Dealing with items of value • Working with alcohol • Providing physical/emotional care • Going into peoples’ homes

The Nova Scotian Experience 1: Wright & Kelloway (2007) • Survey of Metro Transit Bus Operators • 60% experienced physical violence from members of public • 33.5% object thrown at them • 13.5% hit kicked or shoved • 50.6 threatened with assault • 5.9% threatened with a weapon • 1.2% attacked with a weapon

The Nova Scotian Experience 2: Perrot & Kelloway (2005)

Myth #4: Violence is committed by “crazy” people and psychopaths • Violence is a purposive activity • Violence is committed by people because by doing so they can: (1) force others to comply; (2) restore justice when they believe they have been wronged; (3) achieve a desired image or reputation; and (4) entertain themselves with a potentially risky activity.” (Felson, 2005).

Three main sources of workplace violence • Criminal activity • Frustration/anger – denial of service, restriction of freedom etc. • Marital/spousal violence – work as a social address

Myth #5: Violence is spontaneous, it “comes out of no where” • Physical violence is almost always preceded by an escalation (profanity, threats, raised voices etc) • Not all aggression escalates into violence, but violence is almost always preceded by aggression

The Nova Scotian Experience (Francis & Kelloway, 2006) • 47% of violence victims (vs 14% of non-victims) had been the target of obscene gestures; • 51% of victims had been treated with disrespect (vs 24% of non-victims) • 54% of those who had been threatened had also been hit, kicked or shoved • 40% of those who had been threatened had also had an object thrown at them

Myth #6:There is nothing we can do • 27% of respondents reported that there was some form of workplace violence program in their workplace • 14% had used the program • Programs can focus on primary, secondary, or tertiary intervention

PRIMARY Intervention: Reduce/Eliminate • Physical Security • Remove self from situation • De-escalation • Conflict resolution/mediation • Risk assessment • Organizational Policies and Practices

SECONDARY Intervention: Reduce the effects • Self-defense training • PPE • Training in dealing with abusive/aggressive individuals (Understanding, Prediction, & Control) • Social Support (from coworkers, from supervisors, from organization) • Organizational tolerance/security climate?

TERTIARY INTERVENTION: Heal the wounded • Counseling • EAPS • Critical Incident Stress Interventions • Workers’ Compensation

THANK YOU !!

Workplace Violence: Myths, Facts and The Experience of Nova Scotian Workers