NCJ Number
179165
Editor(s)
Martin Gill
Date Published
1998
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Workplace violence has been recognized in the United States as a significant problem facing both workers and employers, and interest in the area has come from a variety of sectors, including the media, academia, and government research agencies.
Abstract
Violence in the workplace has been identified as a significant public health problem for the approximately 130 million people in the U.S. labor force. Problems related to workplace violence include worker compensation claims, insurance costs, lost productivity, employee counseling, grievances, lawsuits, and extra security. Estimates of workplace violence vary dramatically across studies. Nonetheless, the studies add to current understanding of trends in both fatal and non-fatal violence in the workplace, and they identify risk factors associated with such violence. Findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey indicate that workplace violence varies within and across type of work, that most victimizations are committed by a single offender, that there are substantial differences in the relationship between the victim and the offender according to crime type, and that most victimizations do not involve a repeat offender. About 24 percent of workplace violence involve a weapon, nearly 74 percent of workplace victimizations happen when someone else was present, and about 52 percent of victimizations are not reported to the police. Implications of the research findings for workplace security and crime prevention are discussed. 58 notes and 5 tables