Client-Perpetrated Violence Among Frontline Child Welfare Workers

Abstract

Client-perpetrated violence against child protective services (CPS) workers is common and detrimental to worker wellbeing with consequences including physical injury and psychological illnesses. Despite the impacts of violence, few studies capture violence in a representative sample of CPS workers. This study examines prevalence and applies a structural inequality framework to consider who among CPS workers is most susceptible. This article used the Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families dataset, a longitudinal panel study of newly hired CPS workers ( N = 1,501) to examine the prevalence of violence in the first 6 months of employment and consider the influence of individual characteristics. CPS workers experienced high levels of non-physical violence (75%), threats (37%), and physical violence (2.3%). Age and race were significantly related to instances of violence as were college major and position. Relationships were nuanced and did not uniformly follow a structural inequality framework. The high prevalence of violence within the first months on the job illustrates the importance of conflict and violence training before workers acquire independent caseloads. In addition, institutionalized mandatory reporting procedures with definitions of non-physical violence, threats, and physical violence may promote a culture of safety rather than an attitude that violence is part of the job. Finally, supervisors and peers can benefit from opportunities to support one other. The high prevalence of violence within certain subgroups of workers coupled with its wide-ranging consequences call for additional theoretical and empirical research and responsive policy to prioritize worker safety and wellbeing.

Creeping under the skin: manifestations of client violence towards social workers in Swedish individual and family services

“…Thus, workplace safety culture and professional roles influence how social workers perceive and react to client violence. For example, Swedish and international studies indicate that workplace culture in social work agencies tends to promote normalization of, and tolerance towards client violence (Radey and Wilke 2018;Zelnick et al 2013). However, when the client violence occurs in the private sphere, the social workers' repertoire for understanding and dealing with the violence seems insufficient.…”

“…Studies from other Nordic countries like Finland show that social workers are among the high-risk professionals for service-user related violence (Heiskanen 2007). Correspondingly, high international prevalence rates have been reported, ranging between 52% and 80% in countries like Australia (Koritsas, Coles, and Boyle 2010), Canada (Macdonald and Sirotich 2005), the UK (Littlechild et al 2016) and the USA (Radey and Wilke 2018;Zelnick et al 2013).…”

“Business as Usual”: Child Protective Services Workers’ Perceptions and Experiences of and Responses to Client-Perpetrated Violence

“…Accumulating evidence, typically from convenience samples, suggests high rates of various types of CPV among CPS workers. Analysis of the only known statewide sample of CPS workers ( N = 1,162) indicates that CPS workers experienced high rates of CPV within the first 2 years on the job, including nonphysical violence (75%), threats (37%), and physical violence (2%; Radey & Wilke, in press). Although estimates vary widely due to question wording and time frame, convenience studies have found similar rates such that a sizable segment of the CPS workforce encounters verbal assaults (37%–97%), threats of physical violence (11%–33%), and physical attacks (2%–34%; Horejsi et al, 1994; Ringstad, 2009; Robson et al, 2014).…”

‘Anxiety, frustration and understanding’. Swedish personal social service workers’ cognitive appraisals of encounters with violent clients

“…Violence and threats from social service users towards social workers (client violence) in workrelated contexts is a problem in Sweden and internationally (Enosh and Tzafrir 2015;Koritsas, Coles, and Boyle 2010;Macdonald and Sirotich 2005;Padyab and Ghazinour 2015;Radey and Wilke 2018;Shin 2011;Swedish Work Environment Authority 2018;Zelnick et al 2013). Client violence may involve physical assault, verbal harassment, property damage, or threats in conjunction with, or as a result of social workers' execution of their job (Waddington, Badger, and Bull 2012).…”

“…Violence and its use are socially constructed, and therefore understood and reacted to in different ways depending on the context (Stanko 2003). In social service organizations in Sweden and internationally, there exists a notion that client violence is part of the job (Radey and Wilke 2018;Spencer and Munch 2003;Swedish Work Environment Authority 2018;Zelnick et al 2013). Social workers struggle to accept this notion, well aware of the looming and undesirable effects of violence.…”