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Abstract
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AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT:
The American archetype of the free man evolved from the vision embedded within the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. As spiritual documents, they set forth the vision of a society comprised of free men granted equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness. In the late 20th Century the role of work and the workplace is the primary field upon which the archetype is played. The workplace has become the meeting ground of skills applied to trade, search for community and meaningful relationship, and fulfillment of the human spirit (Conger et al, 1994). However, our concentration on excessive individualism at the cost of community-oriented behavior has, precipitated the alienation of workers in today's workplace (Bellah et al 1986). The worst evidence of this alienation is witnessed as violence in the workplace. There are annually over two million assaults in the workplace (Littler, Mendelson, Fastiff, Tichy & Mathiason, 1994). Homicide in the workplace has tripled in the last decade, with 1,600 homicides occurring annually (Baron 1994). Sigmund Freud observed that humans have two primary needs: the need for work and the need for love (Freud, 1950). With increased violence in American society, and specifically in the workplace, several issues become apparent in their urgency: determine the factors contributing to workplace violence, stop the escalation of violence and eradicate violence from the workplace. This dissertation is a conceptual effort which examines the nature of violence in the workplace in the context of the American dream. A violence prevention assessment tool designed to evaluate an organization's potential for violence was developed to assist organizations in evaluating those organizational behaviors which are contributing factors to workplace violence. The checklist includes 14 categories enumerated in a checklist of 32 items. The checklist was applied to three classic incidents of workplace violence: the Royal Oak Post Office Incident, the Concordia University incident, and the Northwest Airlines Incident. In the analysis of the results, similar patterns of managerial and employee abuse emerged. (Abstract Adapted from Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, 1997. Copyright © 1997 by Carol Champion; University Microfilms International)
Workplace Violence
Violence Causes
Sociocultural Factors
Adult Violence
Adult Offender
Alienation
06-06 |