Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Violence and Health Care Professionals pp 105–126Cite as

Reactions to assault

  • Chapter

Abstract

The first few chapters in this book set out the risks of violence in different groups and for different settings. Much attention has been given to the perpetrators of this violence. Their social and demographic characteristics, diagnoses if any and the sorts of triggers for their acts of violence have been investigated in detail. In contrast, little attention has been given to the victims. This chapter will try to redress the balance by concentrating not on questions of who gets involved or why but on the after effects in the highly trained and dedicated group of workers who sometimes have to suffer in silence.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abramson, L., Seligman, M. and Teasdale, J. (1978) Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association (1989) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, revised 3rd edn, AMA, Washington DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banking and Finance Union (1993) Armed Robbery: Bank and Building Society Branches. Consultative document by the Health and Safety Executive Financial Services Working Party.

    Google Scholar 

  • BASW (1988) Violence to Social Workers, British Association of Social Workers, Birmingham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulanger, G. (1986) Predisposition to post-traumatic stress, in The Vietnam Veteran Redefined (eds G. Boulanger and C. Kadushin), Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 37–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N. and Davis, G. (1987) Post-traumatic stress disorder: The stressor criterion, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 255–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N., Davis G., Andreski, P. et al. (1991) Traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder in an urban population of young adults. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 216–22.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R., Bute, S. and Ford, P. (1986) Social Workers at Risk. The Management and Prevention of Violence, Macmillan, Basingstoke.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess, A. and Holmstrom, L. (1974) Rape trauma syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 981–86.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bute, S.F. (1979) The threat of violence in close encounters with clients, Social Work Today, 11(14), 12–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conn, L. and Lion, J. (1983) Assaults in a university hospital, in Assaults within Psychiatric Facilities, (eds J. Lion and W. Reid), W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp. 61–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Urso, P. and Hobbs, R. (1989) Aggression and the general practitioner. British Medical Journal, 298, 97–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duckworth, D. (1990) The Nature and Effects of Incidents Which Induce Trauma in Police Officers. Report to the joint working party on Organisational Health and Welfare, Home Office (ref. SC/86 22/89/1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery, O., Emery, P., Sham, D. et al (1991) Predisposing variables in PTSD patients. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4, 325–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feinstein, A. and Dolan, R. (1991) Predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder following physical trauma: an examination of the stressor criterion. Psychological Medicine, 21, 85–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, N. and Jacoby, R. (1992) Psychiatric morbidity in bus crews following violent assault: a follow-up study. Psychological Medicine, 22, 685–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Flannery, R., Fulton, P., Tausch, J. et al. (1991) A program to help staff cope with psychological sequelae of assaults by patients. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 42, 935–38.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ganster, D. and Victor, B. (1988) The impact of social support on mental and physical health. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 61, 17–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, B., Wilson, J. and Lindy, J. (1985) Conceptualizing post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychosocial framework, in Trauma and its Wake: The Study and Treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, vol. 1, (ed. C. Figley), Brunner/Mazel, New York, pp. 53–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, M. (1986) Stress Response Syndromes, 2nd edn, Jason Aronson, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hough, M. and Mayhew, P. (1985) Taking Account of Crime: Key Findings From the Second British Crime Survey, Home Office Research Study No. 85, HMSO, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janoff-Bulman, R. (1988) Victims of violence, in Handbook of Stress, Cognition and Health, (eds S. Fisher and J. Reason), John Wiley, Chichester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, D., Saunders, B., Amick-McMullan, A. et al. (1989) Victim and crime factors associated with the development of crime-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Behavior Therapy, 20, 199–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, M. (1983) The reactions of nursing staff to physical assault by a patient. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 34(1), 44–47.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, M. (1984) Factors affecting blame placement for patient assault upon nurses. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 6, 143–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, M. (1987) The relationship between severity of assault to blame placement for assault. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 1, 269–79.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lazarus, R.S. and Folkman, S. (1984) Stress, Appraisal and Coping, Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maguire, M. and Corbett, C. (1987) The Effects of Crime and the Work of the Victim-support Schemes, Gower, Aldershot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mawby, R. and Gill, M. (1987) Crime Victims: Needs, Services and the Voluntary Sector, Tavistock, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, R.L. and Jones, J.G. (1987) Measurement and methodology issues in social support, in Stress and Health: Issues in Research Methodology, (eds S.V. Kasl and C. Cooper), John Wiley, Chichester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poster, E. and Ryan, J. (1989) Nurses’ attitudes toward physical assaults by patients. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 3, 315–22.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Protheroe, C. (1987) How social workers can cope with being victims. Social Work Today, 19(4), 10–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rachman, S. (1980) Emotional processing. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 18, 51–60.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rowett, C. (1986) Violence in Social Work. Institute of Criminology Occasional Paper No. 14, Cambridge University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, J. and Poster, E. (1989) The assaulted nurse: short-term and long-term responses. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 3, 323–31.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shapland, J., Willmore, J. and Duff, P. (1985) Victims in the Criminal Justice System, Gower, Aldershot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, J., Qureshi, R., Preston, M. et al. (1990) Psychological distress after assaults and accidents. British Medical Journal, 301, 849–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shouksmith, G. and Wallis, D. (1988) Stress amongst hospital nurses, in Stress and Organisational Problems in Hospitals: Implications for Management, (eds D. Wallis and C.J. de Wolf), Croom Helm, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon, S. and Canino, G. (1989) Apropriateness of DSM11r Criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Paper presented to the Third International Conference on Traumatic Stress, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittington, R. and Wykes, T. (1989) Invisible injury. Nursing Times, 85, 30–32.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whittington, R. and Wykes, T. (1992) Staff strain and social support in a psychiatric hospital following assault by a patient. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 17, 480–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wykes, T. (1993) The Psychological Effects of Assault on Nurses: Cognitive Predictors of Outcome. Paper presented to the third ECOTS Conference, Bergen, June.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Til Wykes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard Whittington
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London, UK

    Til Wykes

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wykes, T., Whittington, R. (1994). Reactions to assault. In: Wykes, T. (eds) Violence and Health Care Professionals. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2863-4_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2863-4_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-56593-132-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2863-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation