Workplace violence and victimization experienced by social workers: A cross-national study of Americans and Israelis.

Abstract

Workers in human services are increasingly called on to work with clients for whom interpersonal violence is a presenting concern (cf. Foster, 1990; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1995). Recent anecdotal reports suggest that such concerns may be spilling over into direct work with clients, heightening the risk of worker victimization by the clients themselves (e.g.

Preventing burnout in professionals and paraprofessionals who work with child abuse and neglect cases: A cognitive behavioral approach to supervision

“…Professionals and paraprofessionals encounter direct violence as well in this work (e.g., tires being slashed, threats of violence, or actual assaults). In one cross-national study, for instance, 48.8% of the social workers studied reported at least one victimization experience from clients over the previous year [verbal abuse (44.8%), physical threats (17.9%), and physical assaults (3.2%); Guterman, Jayaratne, & Bargal (1996)]. (Experienced caseworkers reported less victimization than did less experienced ones, which may reflect a greater capacity to control their caseloads rather than a better ability to reduce such threats.)…”

Men's experiences of violence: extent, nature and ‘determinants’

“…Interest in men's experiences of violence has increased in recent years. Men are often exposed to non‐fatal workplace violence and may (except for sexual abuse) experience workplace violent crime at higher rates than women do; observations suggest that in the areas of health care and human services, male staff could run a higher risk of violence than their female counterparts do (Arnetz, 1998; Åström, Bucht, Eisemann, Norberg & Saveman, 2002; Duhart, 2001; Fisher & Gunnison, 2001; Guterman, Jayaratne & Bargal, 1996; Kiely & Pankhurst, 1998; Love & Hunter, 1996; Swedish Work Environment Authority, 1998; VandenBos & Bulatao, 1996).…”

Tools to Cope with Clients’ Misbehavior: A Comparative Study

“…The Ministry of Welfare estimates that one in every ten clients behaves aggressively and 15% of the social workers had experienced three or more assaults in the last 3 months (Branovski 2010). A comparative study has found similar rates of assaults toward American and Israel social workers, although the American practitioners reported being more sexually harassed, while the Israelis faced more physical attacks (Guterman et al 1996). Within the educational domain, Israeli adolescents are ranked in the upper third of aggressive and rude behavior, compared with youngsters in 23 European countries (Smith-Khuri et al 2004).…”