Violence Against Professionals in the Community

• NCJ Number: 193462
• Author(s): Jonathan Gabe; David Denney; Mary Ann Elston; Raymond Lee; Maria O'Beirne
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: British Economic and Social Research Council
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Downloaded February 13, 2002

Annotation

This study explored the nature and extent of violence against health and welfare professionals in England. The study also included a review of how these professionals managed the perceived threat of violence and actual incidents and how professional representatives and policy makers responded to violence.

Abstract

The research attempted to establish the incidence of violence against general medical practitioners (GPs), probation officers, and Anglican clergy in the south east of England and the extent to which incidence was socially patterned. Three main types of violence were distinguished: assaults, threats and verbal abuse. The findings were as follows: 1) assaults--10-12 percent of professionals reported having been assaulted over the past 2 years, with clergy being slightly more likely to report the incident; 2) threats--threats were more common than assaults, GPs and clergy working in the inner city were more likely to report they had been threatened than those working in rural areas; 3) verbal abuse-- verbal abuse was more common among all three professions, with 91 percent of probation officers, 75 percent of GPs, and 71 percent of clergy indicating they had been verbally abused. The analysis suggests that there are three main ways to conceptualize work-related violent behavior: 1) as transgressive behavior, that is behavior that disrupts taken for granted normative expectations; 2) as consequential behavior, that is focusing on the consequences of violence, particularly in terms of its effects on victims; 3) in terms of situational contexts, that is behavior related to specific work settings and activities. In the researchers’ interviews, it was found that professionals used each of these constructs. The study also found that violence could be understood in a generational way. For example, older members of the Anglican clergy and GPs thought that increased violence was attributable to their loss of status compared to the 1950's and 1960's. Finally, this study showed that the three groups of professionals managed the risk of violence in a different manner. Probation officers were the most risk conscious and were likely to use formal risk assessments proactively whereas GPs and clergy used risk assessment randomly and reactively.