Workplace Violence

A summary paper for the partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion of the Pacific Union College Degree Completion Program leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration. Napa Valley College November, 1999 INTRODUCTION Preface This paper is intended to explore the issues of violence in the workplace. It does not recommend a specific course of action or purport to address all of the issues associated with the problem. It is my desire to examine particular elements of workplace violence with the idea that I may author a policy for my employer. Background Crime continues to be a controversial topic in American society.

Debate regarding the cause of crime may be found in the media on any given day. What to do about crime is also the topic of much discussion. 5.5 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at year’s end 1996. (U. S.

Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.) Many changes have taken place within the Department of Corrections in California during the 1990s. Most significantly, dwindling financial recourses have reshaped the priorities of the department. It cost $21,470 a year to house an inmate in a California state prison. (Inmate Costs, 1997-1998 p.1 Corrections: Public Safety, Public Service). There are currently about 161,033 inmates in California Prisons. Since staffing levels must remain more or less constant, it is inmate programs that suffer from lack of funding.

Criminals sentenced to prison are under the custody of the Department of Corrections. In addition to fiscal pressure, the department is subject to political pressure at all levels. Public reaction to crime is responsible for the denial of weight yard and other recreational activities; “Three Strikes”, and the loss of conjugal visits. All place varying levels of stress upon inmates and staff.

Nature of the Problem Violence is universally recognized as a pervasive part of contemporary American society and of our Nation’s past as well. Many of the attempts to understand the phenomenon have been made in response to specific situations, such as the lawlessness of the prohibition era, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the urban riots of the mid 1960’s. (Roth) I work for the California Department of Corrections. I am on a two-year assignment as the Employee Relations Officer.

Many people understand the title to mean that I am to be an employee advocate. I am, but not for that reason.