Abstract

PurposeThe recent global economic crisis affected workplaces in many countries, raising questions about the employees' situation. While most work-related studies in times of crises focus on job loss and unemployment, this study analyzes workplace violence in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis among municipal employees within care and education.Design/methodology/approachMixed method approach was used for data collection; longitudinal online surveys and focus group interviews were used.FindingsThe prevalence of workplace violence increased between the three time points of the study, in particular in downsized workplaces. A higher proportion of employees working in care were exposed to threats and physical violence than employees in education as clients of employees in care services were more likely to lash out against employees due to cutbacks in services. Focus groups interviews indicated that the causes of increased workplace violence may be due to a spreading effect both from within and outside the workplace.Practical implicationsAs workplace violence can have serious consequences for the health and well-being of employees, it is important for those who have responsibility for the work environment and occupational health in the workplace to design policies that take these findings into account.Originality/valueBased on the mixed methods, longitudinal survey and focus group interviews, this study contributes to knowledge on workplace violence in times of economic crises. It shows that the prevalence of workplace violence increased not only directly after the economic collapse but also continued up to five years later.

Highlights

  • Introduction the occurrence of workplace violence is considered to be low in general, Harris and Leather (2012) and Piquero et al (2013) are among those who show that it can lead to adverse negative outcomes, such as safety concerns, fear, deteriorating job performance and satisfaction, psychological distress, emotional exhaustion and depression

  • We aim to further that knowledge by presenting longitudinal balanced panel data and focus group interviews, where we analyze the occurrence of threats and physical violence at work in three different female-dominated workplaces in postcrisis Iceland

  • We ask if the extent of threats and physical violence would be the same in 2010, 2011 and 2013, that is, two, three and five years after Iceland was hit by the global economic crisis

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Summary

Introduction

The occurrence of workplace violence is considered to be low in general, Harris and Leather (2012) and Piquero et al (2013) are among those who show that it can lead to adverse negative outcomes, such as safety concerns, fear, deteriorating job performance and satisfaction, psychological distress, emotional exhaustion and depression. Workplace violence can have serious consequences for employees’ health and well-being (Boyd, 2002; LeBlanc and Kelloway, 2002) and quality of life (Di Martino et al, 2003). To be able to prevent violence at work, it is important to understand the causes. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/ legalcode

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