Violence in the workplace is a serious and growing problem both in Sweden and internationally (Menckel & Viitasara, 2002). Especially in the caring professions where users or clients is in a dependent position, and deprived of their liberty in some way, threats and violence proved to be particularly prevalent (Hallberg, 2011). In Sweden, according to Menckel & Viitasara (2002), six in ten reports regarding threats and violence in the workplace come from people working in the care sector, but despite extensive searches in the area it seems to be difficult to find specific studies on precisely how threats and violence affect staff within the LVM- care (compulsory treatment for addicts). The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge and understanding of what the work situation might look like for people who work with people sentenced to LVM-compulsory treatment and their perceptions of how threats, harassment and violence in the workplace affect them. This by answering the following questions: How can the treatment staff experience threats and violence in the workplace, How can the treatment staff experience regulations and guidelines regarding threats and violence at the workplace and What strategies are taken at the workplace for the purpose of securing the safety and health of the staff? The study is based on semi-structured interviews, based on 31 predefined questions, with five employees who work in a business where they care for both women and men, sentenced to compulsory care under the law of LVM. The results show that the majority of the participants have been exposed to threats or veiled threats and some form of violence in their work place, either personally or by watching a co-worker be exposed, which the participants also experience as stressful and a cause for worry and alertness. The respondents states that they feel they have adequate control over their worksituation but that they often are understaffed or overcrowded. They handle aggressive behavior by keeping a closely knitted workteam through careful communication between colleagues and by support from co-workers and leadership.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-117366 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Polansky, Mattias, Holmgren, Jenny |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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