Abstract
Extensive, largely cross-sectional research has documented the continued occurrence of patient assaults on male and female staff. Different studies report either male or female staff to be at highest risk. Studies of same/different gender assaults which might more fully answer this question have been few. In these latter studies both male and female staff were at high risk for same gender assaults. In community settings males were at risk from same gender assaults but females were at risk from assaults by both patient genders. The present 15-year longitudinal retrospective study examined same/different gender assaults over time. Since the health care system under study experienced several major policy changes during these years, data were also examined at 5-year intervals to assess the stability of findings across time. Male and female staff were at increased risk from same gender assaults over time in both inpatient and community settings. The findings and their implications are discussed. In addition, a cost-effective, comprehensive risk management strategy for containing assaults is outlined.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dobrin A, Wiersema P, Loften C, et al.: Statistical handbook of Violence in America.: Ornyx Press, Phoenix, AZ, 1996.
Blair DT: Assaultive behavior: Does provocation begin in the front office?. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing 29:21–26, 1991.
Busch AB, Shore MF: Seclusion, restraint: A review of the literature. Harvard Review of Psychiatry 8:261–270, 2000.
Davis S: Violence in psychiatric patients: A review. Hospital, Community Psychiatry 42:585–590, 1991.
Flannery RB Jr: Characteristics of assaultive psychiatric inpatients: Updated review of findings, 1995-2000. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias 16:153–156, 2001.
Dinwiddie SH, Briska W: Prosecution of violent psychiatric inpatients: Theoretical, practical issues. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 27:17–29, 2004.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence in Health Care and Social Service Workers. Publication #3148. Washington, DC, United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.
Flannery RB Jr: Psychiatric patient assault and staff victim gender: Review of findings. Journal of Healthcare Safety, Compliance, and Infection Control 5:69–72, 2001.
Linhorst DM, Scott LP: Assaultive behavior in state psychiatric hospitals: Differences between forensic and nonforensic patients. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 19:857–874, 2004.
Mellesdal L: Aggression on a psychiatric acute ward: A three-year prospective study. Psychological Reports 92:1229–1248, 2003.
Flannery RB Jr: Repetitively assaultive psychiatric patients: Review of published findings, 1978–2001. Psychiatric Quarterly 73:229–237, 2002.
Flannery RB Jr, Hanson MA, Penk WE, et al: Violence against women: Psychiatric patient assaults on female staff. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 25:182–184, 1994.
Flannery RB Jr, Lizotti D, Laudoni L, Staffieri A, et al.: Violence against women and the Assaulted Staff Action Program. Administration and Policy in Mental Health 28:491–498, 2001.
Harris CT, Rice ME: Staff injuries sustained during altercations with psychiatric patients. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 1:193–211, 1986.
Kalogerakis MG: The assaultive psychiatric patient. Psychiatric Quarterly 43:372–381, 1971.
Flannery RB Jr: The Assaulted Staff Action Program: Coping with the Psychological Aftermath of Violence. Chevron Publishing Corporation, Ellicott City, MD, 1998.
Flannery RB Jr, Farley EM, Rego S, et al.: Characteristics of staff victims of psychiatric patient assaults: Fifteen-year analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP). Psychiatric Quarterly, in press.
Lion JR, Snyder W, Merrill GC: Underreporting of assaults on staff in a state hospital. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 32:497–498, 1981.
James TB: Domestic violence: The 12 Things You Aren't Supposed to Know. Aventine Press, Chula Vista, CA, 2003.
Archer J (Ed): Male Violence. Routledge, New York, 1994.
Campbell A, Muncer S, Bibel D: Female-female criminal assault: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 35:413–429, 1998.
Medical Directors Council, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors: Reducing the use of seclusion and restraint: Findings, strategies, and recommendations. Emergency Psychiatry 6:7–13, 2000.
Rachlin S: The prosecution of violent psychiatric inpatients: One respectable intervention. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 22:239–247, 1994.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Flannery, R.B., Marks, L., Laudani, L. et al. Psychiatric Patient Assault and Staff Victim Gender: Fifteen-year Analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP). Psychiatr Q 78, 83–90 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-006-9029-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-006-9029-4