PREVENTING VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE:

The increased occurrence of violence in the workplace is experienced by the public or private managers everyday. Although the bombing episode at the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma may represent an extreme or statically a rare form of violence, there are other forms of violence which occur in a large number placing the lives of millions of workers in danger. The magnitude of violence in the workplace poses a serious threat to the lives of American workers. Homicide is now the number one cause of death for United States women workers and the number three for all US workers. The workplace homicide is the fastest growing crime, and it is estimated that two million workplace assaults occur in the US each year. The number of workers harassed and threatened account for sixteen and six million respectively. The rate of assaults on supervisors has doubled, and the US Department of Justice reports that one out of every six crimes occur at the workplace (Barrett, 1977, pp. 24-25). Based on statistical evidence, OSHA has expressed specific concern for the safety and security of the worker in several service providers. These service providers include: medical care, mental health and psychiatric care, alcoholic and drug treatment providers, law enforcement personnel, social welfare agencies, justice system personnel, and teaching, administrative, and support staff in schools where students have a history of violent behavior (Barrett, 1977, p. 22).

Violence in the workplace is one of the most complex and difficult problems confronting both private and public managers today. It is a recurring nightmare experienced by both private and public sector organizations (Mantell with Albrecht, 1994, p. vii). These organizations include hospitals, banks, government agencies, abortion clinics, manufacturing enterprises (e.g., Chrysler or General Motors), welfare agencies, law enforcement personnel, judicial offices, educational institutions (high schools and colleges), and psychological counseling facilities or offices. The recent statistics demonstrate that what was unheard of twenty-five years ago, violence in the workplace, is now one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. In 1994, a study conducted by the US Department of Justice reported that approximately one million violent crimes occur in the workplace annually. Ten percent of those crimes involved offenders armed with handguns (Bachman, 1994). In 1993, the Northwestern National Life Insurance Company also reported that 2.2 million workers were physically attacked, 6.3 million were threatened, and 16.1 million were harassed.¹ The cost of workplace violence reported by the National Crime Victimization Survey was estimated at $4.2 billion (Capozzoli and McVey, 1996, pp. 27-28), primarily from civil suits, stress and injury claims, higher insurance premiums, and damage to personal, psychological, and physical assets of the victimized persons and organizations (Bachman, 1994). Similar conclusions were reached by the National Safe Workplace Institute in 1992 (Mantell with Albrecht, 1994, p. ix).

The problem of violence in the workplace was first highlighted by an episode at the US Postal Service office in the early 1990’s where a disgruntled postal employee shot and killed his fellow employees. The workplace violence activities are not confined to the US Postal Service. They occur in every walk of work life. The most recent and serious episodes involve a sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed his estranged wife and wounded a teacher’s aide during an argument inside an elementary school office in Buffalo. An employee at the Connecticut State Lottery office on March 3, 1998, shot and killed his boss along with three other employees. A teacher supervising a graduation dance in Edinboro (Pennsylvania) was killed by a gun shot wound, and a teenager in Jonesboro (Arkansas) killed several students and a teacher at the High School. On April 1, 1998, a newlywed husband in Port Jervis (New York) was charged with killing his bride on their wedding day, while in Fresno (California) on April 25, 1998, a woman and her husband shot and wounded each other during a marriage counseling session. There are thousands of such cases in every walk of life that can be documented. All these stories point to one fact: that the workplace is becoming increasingly dangerous and there is no place fully secured due to availability of guns. One eminent analyst of violence in the workplace characterizes the situation as an epidemic (Mantell with Albrecht, 1994, p. ix).

At the time of tragedy at the US Postal Service, the public reaction to workplace violence was mixed. Some people thought that it was an isolated incident committed by a crazy and disgruntled employee. Still, there were others who did not understand the gravity of the situation due to lack of information. The problem of violence is not confined to the post office. Violence occurs in all areas of organized activity. It is becoming a national problem adversely affecting work time, employee medical benefits, legal expenses, employee morale, turnover, productivity, and undermining the reputation and credibility of the employer. Because of changes in social attitudes, behaviors and economic needs, the separation between domestic and work spheres is also diminishing. The general social or economic problems often originating outside are producing violence in the workplace. In societal context, the workplace violence reflects the general conditions in society. The general social problems associated with poverty, drug use, family disintegration, out of wedlock births, declining moral values, and problematic economic conditions do contribute to increasing violence in the workplace. For instance, 14.5 percent of US population lives in poverty. About 30 percent of all births in the US are to unmarried mothers resulting in millions of children being raised in single parent households without full participation of the father in family affairs (Myers, 1995, p. 3).

Since there is no quick fix to the resolution of complex problems associated with violence in the workplace, a multi-disciplinary approach is needed to analyze the causes of violence and identify effective educational and training strategies to enhance the understanding of private and public sector managers in dealing with organizational violence. In order to promote prevention of violence in the workplace, we must understand the causes that contribute to increased violence. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to: (1) examine the sources or causes of organizational violence; (2) assess the threats and warning signs; (3) identify employer responsibilities; and (4) specify major violence prevention strategies and components of a violence management program.

Sources and Causes of Violence

In order to effectively deal with violence in the workplace, we must understand the underlying causes. Instead of reactive, we must follow an affirmative approach based on sound analysis of causes associated with violent behavior. There is already a significant body of literature produced in recent years which identifies the various cause of violence.² These causes may be grouped into three major categories:

In most cases, the initiating causes are primarily job-related and include such personnel actions as disciplinary proceedings, reprimand, demotion, lay-off, and discharge for cause. The sources of violence are perpetrators who engage in abusive and violent behavior. They include: (1) strangers who are typically involved in the commission of a crime such as robbery, or have a grudge against the business; (2) current or past customers; (3) current or former co-workers who commit murders; (4) current or former co-workers who threaten or assault; (5) spouses or lovers involved in domestic disputes; and (6) romantically obsessed individuals who stalk employees (Labig, 1995, p. 33).The type of violent acts committed in the workplace involve arson, assault, harassment, homicide, robbery, vandalism, and forcible rape.

Threat Assessment and Warning Signs

Violent behavior or the actual act of violence in the workplace involves threats, intimidation, and verbal abuse. Threats of violence may be either lethal (homicides and physical assaults) or non-lethal involving teasing, angry outbursts, bullying, harassment, throwing or breaking objects, hitting, pushing, poking, slapping, grabbing, stalking, and sexual assault or rape. When such violent activities occur in the organization, threatened employees become concerned of their safety and security, and want to know what the agency or the organization is going to do to protect them, and what measures they can take to protect themselves. Since it is impossible to know with any degree of certainty when the threat is going to be carried out, the organization must take any threat seriously, and complete a thorough investigation. In order to solve this dilemma, organizations can establish and utilize the threat assessment program to conduct initial investigations, assess the risks, and make recommendations for managing the violent situation. Threat assessment investigations are different from criminal or administrative investigations because the threat assessment investigation is expected to provide guidance on managing the situation in a way that protects the employees (OWR, U.S. Department of Justice, 1998, pp. 37-38).There are some threat assessment resources available which public or private sector managers/supervisors can use in designing and implementing a threat assessment program.³ The threat assessment program can be supervised by the Workplace Violence Management Team (WVMT).

The occurrence of violence in the workplace involves a cyclical or spiral process when the cognitive thought process in an individual’s mind goes through a sequence--stress, reactive response, emotional response, and violent action. While going through this cognitive process, the individual displays a number of visual signs or body language which could provide some understanding of his/her violent state of mind. These visual or body signs include shouting, abusive language, clenching of teeth, raising of fist, twitching of lips, restless movements, sweating, shaking of head, and verbal threats. Managers can be trained to recognize these vital signs of potential violent behavior.

Additionally, a detailed analysis of two episodes involving US Postal employees at Royal Oak, Michigan, and Edmond, Oklahoma, suggest a variety of signs characterizing this violent behavior prior to the commissioning of actual acts of violence. S. Anthony Baron identifies several indicators of potential trouble. These indicators include attendance problems, impact on supervisor’s time, decreased productivity, inconsistent work pattern, poor on-the-job relationships, concentration problems, safety issues, poor health and hygiene, unusual behavior, fascination with guns or other weapons, drug or alcohol abuse, continual excuses, depression, and the evidence of serious stress in employee’s personal life (1993, pp. 49-52).Some of these symptoms can alert the supervisor or manager to consider some intervention strategies or options. One of the options that can be used is to advise the employee to seek help from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Employer Responsibilities and Obligations

Alerting and averting may be considered as important tools in managing violence in the workplace, but they cannot be relied upon as fully effective in alleviating or minimizing the risk of organizational violence. Employers are not only responsible to protect the employees and the organization, but they are also legally liable for maintaining safe and secure work environment. The major legal responsibilities and obligations of the employer include:

Violence Prevention and Intervention Strategies

As noted earlier, we may be able to conduct threat assessment, but there is no fully reliable mechanism or procedure that would allow accurate prediction of violent behavior, if and when it’s going to occur. Often, in emergency situations such as acts of violence in the workplace, managers/supervisors are caught by surprise and unprepared to deal effectively with the violent situation. The most effective thing for the manager to do would be to take a pro-active stance and be prepared to provide a planned management response. The planned management response would require strategic planning and proper understanding of violence prevention or intervention strategies. There are three prevention strategies:

Workplace Violence Management Plan

The issue is not which strategy the managers have to pick and chose. Taking the contingency factors into account, they must be well prepared to take planned action in dealing with the problems and issues that surface during and the post violence stage. The emphasis should be on the development and implementation of a planned violence management program. An effective workplace violence management program must include the following components:

Conclusion

The occurrence and consequences of violence in the workplace have serious impact on employee safety, morale, and organizational productivity. The causes of violence are numerous and some of them are deeply rooted in our general social and organization culture. The human and material loss involving organizational violence inflicts a tremendous social as well as economic cost on society. Although there are some visible signs to assess potential threat of violence, the human capacity to design and implement procedures and practices to predict and effectively control violence in the workplace is limited. Proactively, what managers or supervisors both in the private and public sector can do is to plan and execute a carefully crafted violence management program. It will give the managers the necessary tools and institutional procedures for avoiding, coping, and managing the risk associated with the occurrence of violence in the workplace.

Notes

The Nortwestern National Life Insurance Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in a study reported that one of four workers was harassed, threatened, or attacked on the job between July 1992 and July 1993. Nineteen percent of workers reported being harassed on the job; 7 percent reported threats of physical harm, and 3 percent reported being physically attacked. The effect of this proliferation of violence on the job is taking its toll: 88 percent of workers said that they were psychologically affected, 62 percent said their work life was disrupted, 23 percent were physically injured or sick, and only 7 percent reported no negative effect (Charles E. Labig, 1995. Preventing Violence in the Workplace, Amacon, American Management Association, New York, p. 3). [Return to your place in the document]
Seth Allcorn, (1994). Anger in the Workplace: Understanding the Causes of Aggression and Violence, Quorum Books, Westport, CT; Michael Mantell and Steve Albrecht, (1994). Ticking Bombs—Defusing Violence in the Workplace, Richard Irwin, Inc., New York, p. ix.; Charles E. Labig, (1995). Preventing Violence in the Workplace, Amacom, New York; S. Anthony Baron, (1993). Violence in the Workplace—A Prevention and Management Guide for Business, Pathfinders Publishing of California, Ventura, CA; Susan Cartwright and Cary L. Cooper, (1994). Managing Workplace Stress, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1997; John Nicoletti, et al, Violence Goes to Work—An Employers Guide, Mountain States Employees Council, Denver, Colorado; Thomas Capozzoli and R. Steve McVey, (1996). Managing Violence in the Workplace, St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida; Jerald Greenberg, (1996). The Quest for Justice on the Job—Essays and Experiments, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA; Sonia Ospina, (1996). Illusions of Opportunity—Employee Expectations and Workplace Inequality, ILR Press, Cornell University Press, Ithica, New York; Emily S. Bassman, (1992). Abuse in the Workplace—Management Remedies and Bottom Line Impact, Quorum Books, Westport, CT; Lloyd C. Williams, (1994). Organizational Violence—Creating a Prescription for Change, Quorum Books, Westport, CT; Donald W. Myers, (1995). Stop Violence in the Workplace—A Guide to Understanding and Prevention, CCH Incorporated, Chicago; Jim Castelli, (1994). "On the Job Violence Becomes Epidemic," National Institute of Safety and Health, Safety and Health, Vol. 149(2); Dennis L. Johnson, (1994). "A Team Approach to Threat Assessment," Security Management, vol. 38; Jenny C. McCune, (1994). "Companies Grapple with Workplace Violence," Management Review, Vol. 38; John Monahan, (1981). Predicting Violent Behavior—An Assessment of Clinical Techniques, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA; Lloyd Nigro and William L. Waugh, Jr., (1996). "Violence in the Workplace—Challenge to the Public Employers," Public Administration Review, 56, (July-August); pp. 326-33; Sandra Hackett, (1996). Workplace Violence: Before, During and After, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston; Llyod Nigro and William L. Waugh, Jr., (1998). "Workplace Violence Policies and Programs in Local Government," The Municipal Year Book, ICMA, Washington, DC, pp. 3-8. [Return to your place in the document]
See Treat Assessment: An Approach to Prevent Targeted Violence, by Robert A. Fein, Bryan Vossekuil and Gwen A. Holden (1995). Their contributions were published as part of the NIJ Research Action Series, National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC. [Return to your place in the document]