Customer-perpetrated work-related violence: Prevalence and trends in Britain

Abstract

Background: Incidents of work-related violence (WRV) have increased over the years. These can be damaging to both individual psychological well-being and organizational performance. Aims: To examine the prevalence and causes of customer-perpetrated WRV in Britain over a 12 year period. Demographic, work and perpetrator's personality characteristics were examined as predictors of WRV.Methods: Data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) across 2001-13 were filtered specifically to explore responses from victims of customer-perpetrated crime within the working population. Results: On average, 22% of all violent crimes committed by customers occurred in the workplace. Further analysis showed that differences in gender, age as well as managerial/supervisory duties, working hours, employment status, organizational size and occupation were significantly related to incidents of WRV. Perpetrators' personality characteristics were also perceived as predictors of WRV. Conclusions: This paper provides an alternative approach for reporting customer-perpetrated WRV. Violence at work is considered a widespread problem within the organizational studies literature, which can lead to a variety of stress-related symptoms in affected workers. Based on the current study's findings, a theoretical model is proposed to help combat customer-perpetrated WRV, and as a basis for future research.