Employee Perceptions of Perpetrators and Acts of Workplace Violence in Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Workplace violence has captured the attention of both the popular press and the scholarly literature, leading to a greater awareness of its existence in society. One area that has been overlooked by the research is how employees perceive various types of workplace violence acts, as well as different types of perpetrators. This study examined employee perceptions of a variety of workplace violence acts and different perpetrators at a large, public university in the midwestern United States. The results indicate that employees perceive various types of workplace violence acts and different perpetrators in a variety of ways. Based on these findings, recommendations on how to improve awareness are suggested.