Workplace Violence: Survivors and Victims.
Violence in a working environment has become an increasingly large problem throughout the past decade. The simple task of showing up and doing your job has become somewhat of a risk in today's work settings. Historically, when a violent act is committed, the first reaction is to find out the when and whys. But the purpose of this paper is not to find the source of these crimes, but rather to address the post crime issue of how to overcome an act of violence in the workplace once it has already occurred. Research has shown that the chances for a company to operate in the same fashion as it did before an act of violence was committed are very rare, if not nonexistent. This poses the question of how do we deal with those who have been directly and indirectly affected by a crime committed in a working environment.
When dealing with those who have been either directly affected or indirectly affected, we are obviously talking about everyone that has anything to do with that specific corporation. If the scenario was to occur where a person comes to work one day and decides that he or she is going to stab another employee, then we are left with two tasks: how to handle the person that was involved in the stabbing (the victim) also, maybe more importantly, how to handle those who work there (the survivors). As stated before, the odds of a working environment getting the same work production as prior to an incident are very slim. It is human nature for employees to question their company if an event such as this was to happen. People will start to fear for their own safety as well as their peers. At the same time, they might have the fear that the company will take a turn for the worst, therefore questioning job stability. All kinds of questions will arise in the minds of workers, as well as doubt overcoming their confidence.
For each different crime committed, there are different punishment measures, as well as different workers compensations.
