Abstract
Residential social workers (RSWs), working in children’s homes, have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to physical assault and threatening behaviour from those in their care and yet little research has investigated the factors related to such aggression. This quasi-experimental design examined prevalence of aggression across different grades and investigated the extent to which qualifications and training and increased experience in the job might moderate the levels of aggression experienced by virtue of increased expertise. Results did not support the common assumption that vocational training and/or experience would necessarily serve to protect staff from victimisation. Existing methods of training staff, both on and off the job to deal with such aggressive incidents should be re-examined in the light of these findings and more detailed investigations into the reasons for the aggression are required.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balloch, S., Pahl, J., & McLean, J. (1998). Working in the social services: Job satisfaction, stress and violence. British Journal of Social Work, 28, 329–350.
Brown, R., Bute, S., & Ford, P. (1986). Social workers at risk: The prevention and management of violence. London: Macmillan.
Duxbury J. (2002). An evaluation of staff and patient views of and strategies employed to manage in-patient aggression and violence on one mental health unit: A pluralistic design. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 9(3), 325–337.
Flannery, R. B. (1991). Program to help staff cope with psychological sequelae of assaults by patients. Hospital & Community Psychiatry, 42(9), 935–938.
House of Commons Health Select Committee (1991). Public expenditure on social services: child protection services (Second report, session 1990–1991). London: House of Commons.
Jayaratne, S., Vinokur-Kaplan, D., Nagdar, B. A., & Chess, W. A. (1996). A national study on violence and harassment of social workers by clients. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 20, 1–14.
Jayaratne, S., Croxton, T. A., & Mattison, D. (2004). A national survey of violence in the practice of social work. Families in Society, 85(4), 445–453.
Lanza, M. L. (1985). How nurses react to patient assault. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 23(6), 6–11.
Leadbetter, D. (1993). Trends in assaults on social work staff: The experience of one Scottish department. British Journal of Social Work, 23, 613–628.
Littlechild, B. (2000) ‘I know where you live’: How child protection social workers are affected by threats and aggression. A study into the stresses faced by child protection workers in Hertfordshire. Department of Health and Social Care. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire.
Macdonald, G., & Sirotich, F. (2001). Reporting client violence. Social Work, 46, 107–114.
National Health Service (2006). Legal protection unit. http://www.cfsms.nhs.uk/sms/lpu.html. Retrieved 20 Nov 2006.
National Institute for Social Work (1999). Violence against social care workers: Briefing paper No. 26. London: NISW.
Newhill, C. E. (1996). Prevalence and risk factors for client violence toward social workers. Families in Society, 77(8), 488–495.
Newhill, C. E., & Wexler, S. (1997). Children and youth services social workers’ experiences with client violence. Children and Youth Services Review, 19(3) 195–212.
Norris, D. (1990) Violence against social workers. London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Rey, L. (1996). What social workers need to know about client violence. Families in Society, 77(1), 33–39.
Rippon, J. (2000). Aggression and violence in health care professions. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31, 452–460.
Rowett, C. (1986). Violence in social work. Cambridge: Institute of Criminology.
Ryan, J., & Poster, E. (1989). Assaulted nurse; short term, long term responses. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 3(6), 323–331.
University of Southampton, Department of Social Work Studies, (1989). Social work in crisis: A study of conditions in six local authorities. London: National and Local Government Association.
Wells, J., & Bowers, L. (2002). How prevalent is violence towards nurses working in general hospitals in the UK? Journal of Advanced Nursing, 39, 230–240.
Winstanley, S. (1999). Violence and aggression toward health care staff in a general hospital. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Liverpool.
Winstanley, S. (2005). A cognitive model of aggression toward health care staff: The patient’s perspective. Work and Stress, 19(4) 340–350.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Prepared for Child and Youth Care Forum, August 2007
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Winstanley, S., Hales, L. Prevalence of Aggression Towards Residential Social Workers: Do Qualifications and Experience Make a Difference?. Child Youth Care Forum 37, 103–110 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-008-9051-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-008-9051-9