Behind closed doors: In-home workers' experience of sexual harassment and workplace violence.

The authors developed and tested a structural model predicting personal and organizational consequences of workplace violence and sexual harassment for health care professionals who work inside their client's home. The model suggests that workplace violence and sexual harassment predict fear of their recurrence in the workplace, which in turn predicts negative mood (anxiety and anger) and perceptions of injustice. In turn, fear, negative mood, and perceived injustice predict lower affective commitment and enhanced withdrawal intentions, poor interpersonal job performance, greater neglect, and cognitive difficulties. The results supported the model and showed that the associations of workplace violence and sexual harassment with organizational and personal outcomes are indirect, mediated by fear and negative mood. Conceptual implications for understanding sexual harassment and workplace violence, and future research directions, are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consequences of client-initiated workplace violence: The role of fear and perceived prevention.

The authors suggested and tested a model of the consequences of client-initiated workplace violence, introducing perceived prevention of violence and perceived coping ability as factors that reduce fear of future violence and mitigate negative personal and organizational consequences. Survey data from 330 frontline staff from job centers and social security offices were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The data supported the model and confirmed the central role of the fear of violence with regard to outcomes such as psychological and physical well-being or irritability. Results point further to perceived prevention of violence as an important factor that influences fear levels in different ways, predicts turnover intentions, and should therefore be considered when managers aim to address the consequences of client-initiated violence and threats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Domestic violence in the workplace

1. It is important for workers, management, and health and safety personnel to recognize a history of domestic violence may place an individual at risk for acts of violence at work. 2. Employers and unions are beginning to recognize domestic violence may impact the economic well being of a workplace by decreasing productivity and attendance, and by increasing insurance and health care costs. 3. Few companies have policies related to general safety, general workplace violence, or specifically to domestic violence. All departments within the corporation or business should help to develop and implement these policies, and training in the policies must include all levels of the business.     

Epidemiology of violence and theft in the workplace

Using sequence information derived from the Drosophila melanogaster (Dm) ecdysteroid receptor (EcR)- and retinoid X receptor (RXR)-encoding gene homologs, we have isolated cDNA clones corresponding to the DNA-binding domains (DBD) for these two nuclear receptors from the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator (Up). Both genes appear to be represented in 1-2 copies in the Up genome, and unlike Dm, contain an intron within the DBD-encoding region. Sequence comparisons to the Dm EcR and RXR homologs indicate 76 and 82% nucleotide identity, respectively, corresponding to 6 and 4 single-amino acid substitutions which primarily cluster in the region of the molecule involved in dimerization. RT-PCR analysis indicates that both the EcR and RXR homologs are expressed during the initial stages of limb regeneration, temporally concomitant with early blastema formation and the secretion of a flexible sac cuticle at the site of limb loss.     

Sexual harassment: Violence against women in the workplace.

Sexual harassment has been a fixture of the workplace since women first began to work outside the home. Although true epidemiological studies do not exist, large-scale surveys of working women suggest that approximately 1 of every 2 women will be harassed at some point during their academic or working lives. The data indicate that harassment is degrading, frightening, and sometimes physically violent; frequently extends over a considerable period of time; and can result in profound job-related, psychological, and health-related consequences. This article provides a brief review of the prevalence and consequences of sexual harassment and outlines social policy implications for research, legislation, and primary prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates and consequences of workplace violence

A random telephone survey was used to interview 598 employees about instances, if any, when they had been physically attacked or threatened in the workplace. Demographic and workplace characteristics are analyzed as correlates of these forms of violence. The only characteristic consistently associated with higher risk is a work schedule that included nighttime hours. However, although few strong or consistent correlates of workplace violence were found, there were clear negative consequences associated with being victimized at work: lower job satisfaction, greater job stress, increased considerations of job change, and an increased likelihood of bringing mace, a gun, or another weapon to work.     

Violence prediction, workplace violence, and the mental health expert.

Suggests that potential expert witnesses in civil cases arising from employee-caused work site violence should be familiar with recent findings concerning the assessment of risk for violence and with the implications of those findings. Pertinent demographic issues and the legal considerations (i.e., legislation, case law, and theories of liability) that might shape tort actions for workplace violence are reviewed. Knowledge concerning mental health professionals' ability to assess violence potential, and the practical limitations of that knowledge are summarized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Health care workers and workplace violence

Laser bronchoscopy allows reestablishment of patent airways in patients with exophytic intraluminal tracheobronchial obstruction from malignancy. Patients with benign strictures can also be treated, thereby avoiding open surgical repair in selected instances. Because of laser-tissue interactions, and because patients often have terminal illness or severe underlying medical problems, these are potentially high-risk procedures. Proper resection techniques, experience, and repetitive performance are necessary to ensure satisfactory patient safety and outcome.     

Patterns of workplace harassment, gender, and use of services: An update.

Using three waves of data from an ongoing study of current and former university employees (N = 1,656), the authors reexamined the roles of sexual (SH) and generalized (GWH) workplace harassment and gender in predicting use of professional services by focusing on patterning (chronic, remission, onset, intermittent, and never harassed). The authors also reexamined whether services moderated relationships between SH and GWH patterns and drinking and mental health outcomes. All patterns of SH, but only chronic GWH, predicted increased odds of services use. Services use did not moderate relationship between SH patterns and outcomes, but was associated with lower alcohol consumption for men with GWH remission or chronicity, reduced escape drinking for those with GWH remission, and reduced hostility for those with intermittent GWH. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preventing verbal harassment and violence toward gay and lesbian students

School nurses (as well as other school personnel) have a role and a responsibility to help prevent verbal harassment and violence toward gay and lesbian students. The literature about verbal harassment and violence toward students in schools is scant, and there is even less written about the school nurse's role in addressing such concerns. This article points out the potential role of school nurses in addressing this issue if they will put aside personal biases and get involved in, or initiate, homophobia awareness programs and advocate for gay and lesbian students.     

Violence and threats of violence experienced by public health field-workers

Documentation and measurement of intraoperative cerebral blood flow during various neurosurgical procedures is not only valuable but also very informative. There are various methods by which qualitative and quantitative measurement of blood flow have been developed over the years. The use of perivascular ultrasonic flow more recently is fast gaining popularity. We describe the technique, principle and application of ultrasonic perivascular micro-flow probe quantitative measurement of selective vessel flow in neurosurgery.     

Management of threats of violence under California's duty-to-protect statute

OBJECTIVE: This is the first study to assess clinical practices under one of the new duty-to-protect statutes, some version of which has been passed in many states. In 1985, California enacted a statute enabling psychotherapists to limit their liability when a patient makes a serious threat of violence by 1) making reasonable efforts to warn the victim of the threat and 2) notifying local police. METHOD: The authors examined all duty-to-protect notifications over a 5-year period in San Francisco by reviewing police and court records. RESULTS: Police received only 337 notifications, typically made by nondoctoral staff members at public facilities such as psychiatric hospitals and crisis clinics. Patients most commonly directed their threats toward family members. Of the patients who made threats resulting in notifications, 51% had prior arrest records, and 14% had subsequent arrests. Only 52% of the patients who made threats were civilly committed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that 1) clinicians rarely discharge the duty to protect in the manner specified by the law, 2) many patients whose threats result in notifications have extensive involvement with the criminal justice system, and 3) family intervention may have clinical relevance in many duty-to-protect situations.     

The fit and implementation of sexual harassment law to workplace evaluations.

Three studies used videotaped harassment complaints to examine the impact of legal standards on the evaluation of social-sexual conduct at work. Study 1 demonstrated that without legal instructions, college students' judgment strategies were highly variable. Study 2 compared 2 current legal standards, the "severity or pervasiveness test" and a proposed utilitarian alternative (i.e., the rational woman approach). Undergraduate participants taking the perspective of the complainant were more sensitive to offensive conduct than were those adopting an objective perspective. Although the utilitarian alternative further increased sensitivity on some measures, it failed to produce a principled judgment strategy. Finally, Study 3 examined the kinds of errors that full-time workers make when applying the "severity or pervasiveness" test to examine more closely the sensitivity of the subjective approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparing victim attributions and outcomes for workplace aggression and sexual harassment.

In 2 studies, we investigated victim attributions (Study 1) and outcomes (Study 2) for workplace aggression and sexual harassment. Drawing on social categorization theory, we argue that victims of workplace aggression and sexual harassment may make different attributions about their mistreatment. In Study 1, we investigated victim attributions in an experimental study. We hypothesized that victims of sexual harassment are more likely than victims of workplace aggression to depersonalize their mistreatment and attribute blame to the perpetrator or the perpetrator's attitudes toward their gender. In contrast, victims of workplace aggression are more likely than victims of sexual harassment to personalize the mistreatment and make internal attributions. Results supported our hypotheses. On the basis of differential attributions for these 2 types of mistreatment, we argue that victims of workplace aggression may experience stronger adverse outcomes than victims of sexual harassment. In Study 2, we compared meta-analytically the attitudinal, behavioral, and health outcomes of workplace aggression and sexual harassment. Negative outcomes of workplace aggression were stronger in magnitude than those of sexual harassment for 6 of the 8 outcome variables. Implications and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors and outcomes of workplace violence and aggression.

The authors developed and assessed the psychometric properties of an instrument measuring risk for workplace violence and expanded a model linking (a) risk and experience of violence and aggression from the public and (b) experience of aggression from coworkers to emotional well-being, psychosomatic well-being, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. Using data from 254 employees representing 71 different occupations, the measure demonstrated acceptable within-occupation and 1-month test-retest reliability. The data supported the model and showed that public-initiated violence and aggression and coworker-initiated aggression were differentially associated with personal and organizational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosocial correlates of childhood anxiety disorders

OBJECTIVE: This study explored psychosocial and "environmental" correlates of childhood anxiety disorders. The study examined relationships among parental psychiatric symptomatology, perceived family environment, temperament, and self-competence in children with a DSM-III-R anxiety disorder. METHOD: A community sample of third through sixth graders was screened initially for symptoms of test anxiety. Those with high and low scores were administered the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children. Three groups (childhood anxiety disorder, test-anxious only, and normal controls) were identified and compared on the psychosocial variables. RESULTS: Children with an anxiety disorder had greater impairment on the indices of perceived self-competence and temperamental flexibility than controls, with the test-anxious children showing intermediate, yet significant, levels of disturbance. There was a trend for children with an anxiety disorder to describe their families as less promoting of independence than the other groups. Finally, measures of parental psychiatric symptomatology revealed more obsessive-compulsive symptoms for the fathers of both the anxiety disorder and test-anxious children compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Results are consistent with previous findings suggesting the familial transmission of anxiety disorders and recent speculations regarding a relationship between behavioral inhibition, environmental control, and anxiety. Further research may isolate psychosocial and family environmental factors as instrumental treatment targets in the management of childhood anxiety disorders.     

Pragmatic support for the reasonable victim standard in hostile workplace sexual harassment cases.

The development of the objective reasonableness standard in Title VII sexual harassment cases is reviewed. The author examines major policies or goals that underlie subjective and objective aspects of the test to determine whether harassing conduct is sufficiently abusive and hostile to violate the law: (a) elimination of gender-biased norms, (b) eradication of harassment, and (c) uniformity. Four formulations of objective reasonableness are distinguished: the reasonable person, victim, woman, and employee. Problems demonstrated by courts in applying objective reasonableness standards are specified, many of which are attributed to inadequate definitional content. Empirical support for flexibility in the standard leads to recommendations favoring a reasonable victim standard that takes into account variations in the identity and circumstances of the victim including pertinent gender differences. Potential expert testimony to address these concerns is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal and organizational predictors of workplace sexual harassment of women by men.

The authors investigated the predictors of workplace sexual harassment in 278 male university faculty and staff (M age?=?45 years). Workplace variables (perceptions of organizational sanctions against harassment and perceptions of a sexualized workplace) and personal variables (adversarial sexual beliefs, sexual harassment beliefs, perspective taking, and self-esteem) were studied as predictors of sexualized and gender harassment. Social desirability was controlled. Both organizational variables and beliefs about sexual harassment predicted gender harassment and sexualized harassment. Perspective taking, adversarial sexual beliefs, and sexual harassment beliefs moderated the effects of perceived organizational sanctions against harassment on sexualized harassment. Findings are discussed as they relate to organizational efforts to reduce or prevent sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)