Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Empie, Kristine M.

Title Workplace violence and mental illness / Kristine M. Empie
Published New York : LFB Scholarly, 2003

Copies

Description 1 online resource (viii, 156 pages)
Series Criminal justice recent scholarship
Criminal justice (LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC)
Contents Chap. 1. Routine activities theory -- Chap. 2. Violence in the workplace -- Chap. 3. Research methodology -- Chap. 4. The practitioner's perspective -- Chap. 5. Violence in mental health -- Chap. 6. Practical implications
Summary In focusing on a particular type of workplace violence, i.e., violence committed by mentally ill clients against those who work in the field of mental health, this study examined the routine activities of employees who worked in the mental-health field and the subsequent role that their routines may have played in their victimization experiences. The study population consisted of mental health employees who worked in Western Pennsylvania. The population, as defined by the Department of Public Welfare-Office of Mental Health under Title 55 of the Pennsylvania Code, was composed of mental health workers who were employed in licensed mental health facilities, including outpatient, inpatient, partial hospitalization, crisis, family-based, long-term structured residence, and community residential rehabilitation. Based on the sampling frame, facilities were limited to those that were licensed, which excluded employees who worked in private practice. The final sample size was 449, with 162 working in nonresidential facilities, 157 in residential facilities, and 130 in crisis facilities. In order to test the hypotheses, a questionnaire was designed to obtain information on employees' routine activities and patterns of criminal victimization. The questionnaire was administered to determine the relationship between the three central elements of routine activities theory -- exposure to potential offenders, guardianship, and target suitability -- and victimization at work. Verbal aggression, verbal threats, and physical attacks were examined over the past 12 months, with attention to the frequency as well as the nature of the aggression. Findings show that those employees who viewed more of their weekly client contacts as dangerous were more likely to experience victimization. Type of mental disorder, number of weekly client contacts, and setting provided weak or no support for the alternative hypotheses, in that the variables did not have a significant impact on victimization. Those who worked in crisis facilities were more likely to experience victimization than those who worked in residential and/or nonresidential facilities. Working evening or night shifts was associated with an increased risk of victimization. Males were more likely to be victimized than females, except in types of sexual assault. Some of these findings provide strong support for routine activities theory, as well as rich data on violence in the field of mental health. Several policy or practical implications are drawn from the study
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-151) and index
Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL
English
Print version record
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL
Subject Mental health personnel -- Violence against.
Dangerously mentally ill.
Violence in the workplace.
Employees -- Psychology
Victims of crimes.
Medical personnel.
Psychiatric hospitals.
Mentally ill women.
Mentally Ill Persons
Workplace Violence -- psychology
Crime Victims
Health Occupations
Health Workforce
Health Personnel
Hospitals, Psychiatric
Workplace -- psychology
psychiatric hospitals.
mentally ill.
PSYCHOLOGY -- Mental Illness.
Psychiatric hospitals
Medical personnel
Dangerously mentally ill
Employees -- Psychology
Mental health personnel -- Violence against
Victims of crimes
Violence in the workplace
Form Electronic book
ISBN 1593320310
9781593320317