NCJ Number
228567
Journal
Security Journal Volume: 22 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2009 Pages: 269-285
Date Published
October 2009
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined the relationship between workplace-related stressors and maladaptive emotional and behavioral outcomes.
Abstract
Results of the study indicate that victims of aggressive behavior, such as those who had been attacked or threatened physically, insulted or harassed by phone, bothered with unwanted sexual advances, threatened of job security, or mistreated in some other way were more likely to maladaptively cope in various ways. Other less blatant mistreatment, such as being kept from obtaining a raise or deprived of privileges given to others revealed a similar differentiating relationship. Limitations within the study are presented and discussed. In the United States, it is estimated that 1,000 homicides occur in the workplace each year, with American employees 7 times more likely to be victimized in this manner than other industrialized nations. The scope, frequency, and seriousness of these occurrences implores the question: what factors contribute to occupational violence? This study employed Agnew's General Strain Theory to better understand how individuals deal with both general and specific stressors in an occupation setting. The hypothesis was that negative treatment experienced in the work environment would be significantly related to certain unconstructive adaptations, employed in an effort to alleviate the resultant strain. Data were gathered through personal interviews of 327 workers in an American northeastern corporation between 1988 and 1991. Tables and references