The Development of Client Violence Questionnaire (CVQ)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop, test, and validate a questionnaire for assessing social workers' exposure to client violence, which we call the Client Violence Questionnaire (CVQ). Following established procedures for scale development, four distinct stages of research were conducted, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. The contribution of this study is threefold-methodological, conceptual, and practical. The instrument offers practitioners and academic researchers the opportunity to apply the scale both for internal monitoring and knowledge sharing as well as further research. The development process of the CVQ scale demonstrates how the qualitative method can serve as a distinct research stage and at the same time support and enhance the quantitative one, thus contributing to the validity and applicability of the instrument.

Client's violence toward social workers

“…The results of this study revealed that at least half of the participants have been victims of work violence, which is demonstrated as well by some studies carried out in other countries (e.g., Enosh et al, 2014;Ringstad, 2005). Verbal aggression was shown to be the most frequent type of violence.…”

“…One study conducted in the United States showed that more than half of the participants reported having been victims of workplace violence especially involving verbal abuse, and there are recorded episodes of physical violence (Ringstad, 2005). Enosh et al (2014) also note investigations carried out in countries such as Canada (Macdonald & Sirotich, 2005) or Israel , the results of which were headed in a similar direction.…”

“…Therefore, the services sector tends to be more affected by this organizational issue than the industry, and social workers appear to be on top of the high-risk professions (LeBlanc & Barling, 2005;OSHA, 2004). As such, several studies about violence from customers directed to these professionals have been undertaken in many countries, having confirmed the occurrence of the phenomenon in many of them (Enosh, Tzafrir, & Stolovy, 2014). One study conducted in the United States showed that more than half of the participants reported having been victims of workplace violence especially involving verbal abuse, and there are recorded episodes of physical violence (Ringstad, 2005).…”

Precarious schedules linked with workplace aggression in a high‐risk occupation

“…Workplace aggression was measured with The Client Violence Questionnaire (CVQ), a 14‐item self‐reported measure about the frequency of employee's exposure to four types of client violence during the last 12 months: verbal (eg,“a client shouted at you”), property (eg “a client kicked furniture”), threats (eg, “a client threatened to hurt you or your family physically”), and physical aggression (eg, “a client hit you with a fist or a kick”) . These items were assessed on a scale from 0 (never) to 6 (six or more times).…”

‘Wicked’, ‘deceptive’, and ‘blood sucking’: Cyberbullying against social workers in Israel as claims-making activity

“…A long list of factors has been suggested in an attempt to understand the underlying reasons for this violence. Social work practice includes daily encounters with various populations (Enosh et al., 2015), some of whom seek help at their own initiative and some are compelled to make contact and are referred under duress. The situation whereby clients must reveal private and sensitive issues to social workers, sometimes against their will, and the feeling that in some cases the manner of intervention depends on the judgment of social workers, might elicit many negative responses such as unwillingness to cooperate with the intervention and even violent responses against the practitioner.…”