Workplace violence in mental health: a Victorian mental health workforce survey

The international literature suggests workplace violence in mental health settings is a significant issue, yet little is known about the frequency, nature, severity and health consequences of staff exposure to violence in Australian mental health services. To address this gap, we examined these aspects of workplace violence as reported by mental health services employees in Victoria, Australia. The project used a cross-sectional, exploratory descriptive design. A random sample of 1600 Health and Community Services Union members were invited to complete a survey investigating exposure to violence in the workplace, and related psychological health outcomes. Participants comprised employees from multiple disciplines including nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychology and administration staff. A total of 411 members responded to the survey (26% response rate). Of the total sample, 83% reported exposure to at least one form of violence in the previous 12 months. The most frequently reported form of violence was verbal abuse (80%) followed by physical violence (34%) and then bullying/mobbing (30%). Almost one in three victims of violence (33%) rated themselves as being in psychological distress, 54% of whom reported being in severe psychological distress. The more forms of violence to which victims were exposed, the greater the frequency of reports of psychological distress. Workplace violence is prevalent in mental health facilities in Victoria. The nature, severity and health impact of this violence represents a serious safety concern for mental health employees. Strategies must be considered and implemented by healthcare management and policy makers to reduce and prevent violence.

The telling of violence : organizational change and atrocity tales

This paper explores the retrospective construction of atrocity narratives of organizational change in primary industries of the Latrobe Valley, located in southeast Australia. Within their narratives, participants discuss various forms of workplace violence aimed at employees by management and, in some cases, other employees. In addition, shifting narratives from violence to resignation are explored. As all participants are no longer employed in the organizations described in the narratives, causal associations between workplace violence and resignation choices are of particular interest. In this context, atrocity narratives are presented in a deliberate effort to extend the theorizing of organizational change into domains that are neither attractive nor progressive.

Clients who stalk psychologists: prevalence, methods, and motives

There is emerging recognition that psychologists are susceptible to various forms of intrusiveness by clients, including stalking. Information regarding the contexts in which stalking emerges and the behaviors to which clinicians are subjected is limited. A random sample of Australian psychologists (N = 1,750) was surveyed to ascertain the prevalence, nature, and occupational impact of stalking by clients. Of the 830 respondents, 19.5% had been stalked for 2 weeks or more. Psychologists typically perceived the stalking to be motivated by resentment (42%) or infatuation (19%). Most practitioners altered their professional practice as a consequence of the harassment and 29% considered leaving the profession. Stalking by clients is a salient professional issue that requires greater attention to better manage conduct that is potentially damaging to both therapists and clients.

E-training or e-learning : towards a synthesis for the knowledge-era workplace

Many E-training environments and processes are based on participatory learning models in which participants share their understandings and aim to develop new insights into their workplace knowledge through discussion, questioning. mentoring and personal reflection. Knowledge production is assumed to occur through the cumulative elfect of these actions. However, equally likely outcomes include the sharing of ignorance or the development of erreneous understandings. Cognitive and social views of learning posit, however, that humans learn by thinking (not just hy interacting), and that unless this is explicitly taken into account in developing training programs. optimal leaming outcomes may not be achieved. This paper examines the importance of incorporating cognitive and social-Ieaming perspectives in E-training environments in order to maximise the potential for optimal leaming to occur. and provides suggestions for a synthesis of participatory and cognitive models.

Islamism and political violence in the new world order

In the wake of the September 11 and subsequent terrorist attacks, the academic and media commentaries on 'Islam the religion' and 'Islam the basis for political ideology' has received an unprecedented high level of attention. This book deals with such questions as the nature of Islamism, the impact of the 'war on terror' on militancy, and more.

Workplace "bargaining" and the wages/working time nexus: counting the cost of decentralisation

The impact of deregulation on dispersion of earnings in Victoria has been
acknowledged in the findings of the recent task force enquiry into industrial relations in Victoria. This paper argues that the link between hours worked and rates of pay has played a significant role in this increased dispersion. Drawing upon detailed analysis of hours and wages in Victorian agreements, data is presented on declining take-home pay flowing from the loss of penalty rates. This, we argue, is attributable to
the lack of substantive and procedural protections available to Victorian workers under schedule 1A of the Workplace Relations Act, and formerly under the Victorian Employee Relations Act, 1992. We contrast these findings with collective agreements trading off penalty rates certified by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and Australian Workplace Agreements approved by the Office of the Employment
Advocate. We conclude by suggesting there is a scale of fair outcomes attached to the wages/hours trade-off, directly attributable to the various institutional mechanisms now influencing Australian wage determination.

Remedies for unfair dismissal under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 - a fair go all round?

Background to unfair termination laws - remedies at common law - remedies for unfair termination under Federal Awards - overview of remedies under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 - compensation - reinstatement.

Two approaches to workplace flexible delivery and assessment in a rural community

The implementation of forms of flexible delivery and workplace training and assessment in rural areas presents particular difficulties for providers and employers alike. This article discusses some of the outcomes of a case-study research and professional development project undertaken in north-west Victoria. It describes the development and implementation of two different approaches to flexible delivery in the areas of engineering and office administration at Sunraysia Institute of TAFE. These two separate developments reversed the decline in the departments' fortunes and proved to be successful from the perspective of the staff who developed the courses, and the clients-employers and especially the students. The implications of these approaches in terms of catering for the learning preferences and contexts of the students are discussed.

Risky business: stories from the field of rural community nurses' work in domestic violence.

This paper reports on a descriptive study into family violence in rural Victoria. Focus groups were held in a number of areas across rural Victoria with a total of 24 community nurse participants. The focus groups were audio-taped and the tapes transcribed to enable the clustering of themes. The dominant themes were: picking up cues, helping and helplessness, holding secrets and quiet resistance. Underpinning all these themes however, was the notion of 'risky business'. All nurses in the study gave examples of situations that they encountered; their ways of helping; of working sensitively; of working around a system that is unhelpful; and the ways in which their work while skilled, thoughtful and wise, is also costly in terms of the emotional wounds they carry. Rural nurses work with considerable risk and courage as they engage in the care and support of women experiencing family violence.

Emotional responses to filmed violence and the eye blink startle response

The study assessed gender differences in emotional responses to violent film. Both subjective emotional response and eye blink startle magnitude were assessed while 20 men and 20 women viewed a series of five violent film segments and five nature scenes. Participants exhibited higher levels of curiosity, anxiety, disgust, and anger, and lower levels of positive emotion and boredom in response to the violent film segments in comparison with the nature material. Startle response was magnified during the violent film segments, indicating an aversive response. Evidence that men and women responded to the violence differently was demonstrated by men' experiencing greater positive feelings, entertainment, and curiosity in relation to the violent film, whereas women reported more disgust, boredom, anger, and experienced greater startle in relation to the violent scenes portrayed in the film. Future directions for investigating filmed violence are outlined.

Learners and their workplaces: towards a strategic model of flexible delivery of training in the workplace

Although the flexible delivery of training in the workplace has become a favoured policy position for training authorities in both Britain and Australia, this article reviews research that indicates neither learners nor their workplaces are well prepared. Drawing on the author's own research and that from the broader literature, the article develops a model for the preparation of learners and workplaces for flexible delivery of training. Deriving from the proposed model, the article suggests a wide range of strategies that may be used in preparing learners and workplaces for successful engagement with the flexible delivery of training.

The transformation of workplace culture

A theoretical perspective is developed for the critical examination of organisation culture. A structurationist approach is taken to link interpretive and radical structuralist paradigms in this examination. The perspective is applied to investigate a change program in the New Zealand division of a multi-national Bank. The focus is on the use of culture by management to control and change employee performance, in particular to shift the branch culture from a credit and process orientation toward a sales and customer focus. Findings of research conducted at the senior management and branch workplace levels are reported. The goal of the paper is to encourage critical reflection on the beliefs, values, and understandings of organisational life that are sometimes represented as universal, but which advance particular interests. The study’s findings illustrate a range of techniques used by management to transform a workplace culture, and the various reactions of employees to these efforts, manifest in forms of acceptance, appropriation, and resistance.