Workplace Violence

Not for the Faint of Heart: Assessing Physical Violence and Psychological Abuse against U.S. Mayors

“…For example, Every-Palmer, Barry-Walsh, and Pathé (2015) found that most New Zealand politicians, their families, and staff members who experienced harassment felt fearful, and approximately 10 percent changed their behaviors as a result. Several U.S. studies of general workplace violence/abuse indicate that these types of experiences can harm workers’ productivity by depleting cognitive energy, reducing the ability to focus (Hershcovis and Barling 2012), and increasing the possibility of work withdrawal (Henderson and Van Hasselt 2017; Hackney and Perrewe 2018, 85).…”

“…Existing research also provides a sense of how frequently V/A occurs in the general U.S. workforce and the factors that drive them. Because of the publicly facing role of mayors, among the types of workplace V/A identified by Henderson and Van Hasselt (2017, 539), we are interested in those that are “initiated by arguments or angry reactions of a client or patron over the service or some other precipitating event.” Hence, in the following discussion, we focus on the findings from research on V/A against workers perpetrated by the public.…”

Is it Safe to Keep This Job? The Costs of Violence on the Psychological Health and Careers of U.S. Mayors

“…Research on the effects of violence suggests, not surprisingly, that people who experience violence often suffer psychologically from the experience (American Psychiatric Association, ; Every‐Palmer, Walsh, and Pathe, ; Henderson and Van Hasselt, ; National Institute of Mental Health, ; Spiegel, Koopman, and Classen, ). Violence by its definition is something that forcefully intends to cause harm, often resulting in dire consequences.…”

“…Violence by its definition is something that forcefully intends to cause harm, often resulting in dire consequences. Indeed, studies of workplace violence find that victims of violence in other professions often suffer from psychological harm resulting in significant anxiety and depression, sometimes even resulting in suicide attempts or completions (Henderson and Van Hasselt, :545). Every‐Palmer, Walsh, and Pathe (), who studied harassment, threats, and attacks of politicians in New Zealand, found that most victims, as well as their families and staff, reported that the violence made them fearful for their safety, and about 10 percent changed their behaviors.…”

“…Since violence increases the costs of service by potentially causing psychological harm, and political ambition is theoretically depressed by increased costs of service, it follows that mayors who experience violence will also have lower levels of static ambition. The research on workplace violence also notes that workers who experience violence at work have higher rates of turnover (Hackney and Perrewé, ; Henderson and Van Hasselt, ; Hershcovis, ). Shames's () work also suggests that the current climate of incivility depresses the willingness of millennials to seek political office.…”