Management Practices as a Factor in Workplace Violence

University Of Pittsburgh At Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This revised dissertation research project application of 1 R03 OH07374-0l will investigate the influence of management practices in contributing to the increased exposure of male social workers to workplace violence. Specifically, this project will test the effect of decision-making practices, as they relate to informal risk management efforts, regarding the task assignment of clients in the workplace. Examining the assignment practices of volatile (or high-risk) mental health clients may provide additional understanding of contributors to gender disparity in occupational health hazards for social workers. This experimental study will solicit a national random sample of 1000 National Association of Social Workers (NASW) members for analysis. The sample inclusion criteria are: current membership in NASW, mental health as the primary service setting, and supervision as the primary practice function. This research addresses the following questions: (1) Does a mental health client's behavioral history significantly increase the client's likelihood of assignment to a male social worker? (2) Does a mental health client's behavioral history and a social work supervisor's gender role perception interact to significantly increase the client's likelihood of case assignment to a male social worker? (3) Does a mental health client's behavioral history and the male gender of the client interact to significantly increase the client's likelihood of case assignment to a male social worker? (4) Does a mental health client's behavioral history and gender of supervisor interact to significantly increase the client's likelihood of case assignment to a male social worker? (5) Does a mental health client's behavioral history and an organization's policy practices interact to significantly increase the client's likelihood of case assignment to a male social worker? By investigating management practices around volatile clients and testing hypotheses regarding their outcome, this study has implications for the Work Environment and Workforce priority research area of the National Occupational Research Agenda. In general, this research will help us understand mechanisms that may contribute to gender disparities in occupational health hazards within an occupation. More specifically, these findings will increase our knowledge of gender disparities in client-related violence, risk exposure of an at-risk population, supervisory practices, and organizational policy practices in mental health service settings across the nation.