As in any other environment, individuals at work are at risk of physical attack, but employees may also be subjected to threats, bullying, harassment and other psychological harms. Whilst workplace violence is now being recognised as a serious issue, it remains an ambiguous term and an under researched problem. This report provides an overview of fatal and non fatal violence in Australian workplaces and identifies research and policy options for its prevention and control.

Violence in the workplace

The mathematical representation of E. Brunswik’s (1952) lens model has been used extensively to study human judgment and provides a unique opportunity to conduct a meta-analysis of studies that covers roughly 5 decades. Specifically, the authors analyzed statistics of the “lens model equation” (L. R. Tucker, 1964) associated with 249 different task environments obtained from 86 articles. On average, fairly high levels of judgmental achievement were found, and people were seen to be capable of achieving similar levels of cognitive performance in noisy and predictable environments. Further, the effects of task characteristics that influence judgment (numbers and types of cues, inter-cue redundancy, function forms and cue weights in the ecology, laboratory versus field studies, and experience with the task) were identified and estimated. A detailed analysis of learning studies revealed that the most effective form of feedback was information about the task. The authors also analyzed empirically under what conditions the application of bootstrapping— or replacing judges by their linear models—is advantageous. Finally, the authors note shortcomings of the kinds of studies conducted to date, limitations in the lens model methodology, and possibilities for future research.

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Determinants of linear judgment: A meta-analysis of lens model studies

Despite recent declines in the reported rate of juvenile violence, there appears to be increasing public and professional concern about violent behavior among children and adolescents. Media accounts of school shootings and juvenile homicides have prompted a need to develop approaches for systematically assessing violence risk. This article describes the task of assessing general violence risk among youth, and argues that a somewhat different approach is required to assess cases where an identified or identifiable young person may pose a risk to a specifically identified or identifiable target (also referred to as "targeted violence"). Key risk factors for violent behavior among children and adolescents are identified, fundamental principles for conducting an assessment of violence potential in clinical and juvenile justice contexts are outlined, and an approach to assessment when an identified person engages in some communication or behavior of concern that brings him or her to official attention is briefly described.

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Assessing violence risk among youth.

We identify two distinct components of parent participation in intensive family preservation services: collaboration in treatment planning and compliance with program expectations. Using hierarchical linear models, we explore influences on collaboration and compliance at the case, worker, and program levels. Effects of cross‐level interactions are also examined. Parental substance abuse, mental health problems, minority status, and lack of extended family support predict lower levels of participation. Workers' perceptions of their clients and of their own working conditions appear to influence client participation. Program factors matter as well, although some operate in tandem with case characteristics and worker perceptions.

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A Multilevel Model of Client Participation in Intensive Family Preservation Services

Re-visioning risk assessment for human service decision making

Social work has a long history of concern with human rights (Healy, 2008). Nevertheless, some have expressed doubt that, as presently constituted, social work can truly qualify as a "human rights" profession (Solas, 2008). This commentary examines this issue and reviews some current concerns about this difficult question. WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS? The notion of human "rights" has deep roots in the history of the Western world and can be found in such classic documents as the United States Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens (1789) (Melden, 1970). In general, the idea of human rights stands for the principle that rights are ascribed to people because of "the mere fact that they are human beings" (Melden, 1970, p. 1). Based on this broad assumption, the catalog of human rights has exploded over the past half century. Beginning in the 20th century, the guarantee of freedom for all in a wide variety of areas, from gender to religion, was further elaborated by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, issued in 1948, and has been considerably expanded since that time (Driscoll, 1979). Indeed, some have even compared the expansion of human rights claims in our times to the arms race and suggested that today the growth of such claims is "out of control" (Sumner, 1984). SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN RIGHTS Various attempts have been made to place the concept of human rights squarely within the professional culture and identity of social work. For example, Healy (2008) asserted that social workers constitute "front-line human rights workers" and that this is proved by their implementation of recent professional policy statements emphasizing the centrality of human rights to the mission of the profession. Nevertheless, it appears this emphasis is sometimes blunted by the profession's long-standing tradition of focusing primarily on human needs rather than human rights. This emphasis often leads social workers to address immediate needs, as determined by professionals and their clients, as opposed to defending intrinsic human rights and liberties. However, a wide variety of social work authors also assert that present-day social work has sufficient self-monitoring to overcome these tendencies, and, hence, the profession can now unabashedly claim its mantle as a protector of human rights (Healy, 2008). Some authors have observed that the profession's proclamations of devotion to human rights are belied by everyday practice in social work, which demonstrates a reliance on expediency rather than principles. As an example, it is often noted that professionals rely on a utilitarian framework to guide their practical decision making (Reamer, 2006; Solas, 2008). Utilitarianism emphasizes trade-offs and minimalist solutions in seeking the greater good for all and has historically been opposed, in principle, to the idea of human rights because of that doctrine's reliance on abstract principles and notions of individualism and egalitarianism (Sumner, 1984). To correct this utilitarian emphasis, authors such as Solas (2008) have suggested that social work rely more strongly on a purely individualistic, rights-based approach to practice. Solas (2008) has examined in some detail what a serious attempt by the profession to institutionalize a rights-based approach would involve. He stated that grounding the activities of the profession in human rights would require social work to demand that society make social justice its primary goal, and thus guarantee all people fair treatment, plus make all social resources and opportunities equally accessible to all. Solas has admitted that this goal of total egalitarianism is bound to be financially costly. However, he observed that no sacrifice is too great to pursue the "inviolable" goal of equality to ensure the ultimate sovereignty of the individual. According to Solas, the achievement of this goal would eliminate the oppressiveness of the present social order and radically improve the social conditions that characterize the current status quo. …

Is Social Work a Human Rights Profession

Social workers' decision making about the violent client

Bargaining and persuasion with nonvoluntary clients

Social work's current concern with topics such as ethnic sensitive practice, immigration, diversity, and assimilation (de Silva, 2006; Marsh, 2004) marks a rebirth of interest in issues that once dominated the thinking of early social work pioneers (Addams, 1961). This article reconsiders the career of Frances Kellor, a social work leader who early in the early 20th century championed many progressive causes, particularly those involving the civil rights, protection, and education of immigrants (Higham, 1973). At the peak of her influence in the decade leading up to and including World War I, Kellor was as well known nationally as such social work luminaries as Jane Addams and Florence Kelly. Her public renown declined swiftly in the decade after the war, and although she continued to build a distinguished social work career in the field of conflict management and arbitration, her accomplishments are little recognized today. We explore some of the reasons for this dismissal by history at the conclusion of this article. A LEADER OF MEN The phrase "a leader of men" was applied to Kellor by one of her admirers at the height of her fame (Kellor, 1921) and aptly describes her hard-driving personality. Even during her early years she showed the ability to rise above great adversity. She was born in 1873 in Columbus, Ohio. Her father deserted the family during Kellor's childhood, and her mother was forced to move to a rural area in Michigan and take work as a laundress. Kellor could not afford to finish high school and had to go to work for a local newspaper as a typesetter, eventually advancing to the position of investigative reporter. She caught the attention of two wealthy sisters, Mary and Frances Eddy, who helped to finance her education at Cornell University Law School, from which she graduated with a law degree in 1897. On the basis of her achievements, Kellor was granted a scholarship to study sociology and social work at the University of Chicago, where she lived at Hull House and earned supplementary income employed as a gymnastic instructor. Here she wrote her first scholarly article calling for equality in physical education for men and women. While at Chicago she did field work in southern prisons and used this experience as a basis for her first book, Experimental Sociology (published in 1901). In 1903 Kellor moved to New York and took up residence at the Henry Street settlement, where she embarked on a study of joblessness among women. This work helped to focus her concerns on the difficulties of immigrants and other minorities in gaining equal treatment and opportunity in U.S. society. Her work on behalf of immigrants eventually caught the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought Kellor's assistance in developing immigration policy during his administration. Several years later when Roosevelt was out of office, he again sought Kellor's help on formulating immigration policy ideas when he ran for president on the Progressive party ticket in 1912. In the years prior to World War I, Kellor became an often published and nationally known authority on immigration issues. She was especially prominent in organizing national efforts to help immigrants gain increased access and opportunities in U.S. society through Americanization citizenship programs. After the war, when interest in Americanization collapsed, she began an intensive study of mediation and arbitration methods of resolving domestic and international conflict. She became a national authority on these subjects, also publishing extensively in this area (Koesterer, 2002). Kellor died in New York in 1952. THE AMERICANIZATION MOVEMENT Although her involvement in the Americanization movement was only one aspect of Kellor's long and productive career, it has become the contribution for which she is best remembered (Miller, 1997). "Americanization" was a term used to describe early efforts in this country to quickly assimilate the newly arriving waves of immigrants into the fabric of American life. …

Frances Kellor and the Americanization Movement

The field of social work has long been identified with a focus on poverty, the welfare of children and families, unemployment, discrimination, and social justice These areas are also among the constant concerns of progressivism, a political movement stemming from the early 20th century that, at various times, has dominated the political process in the United States during the past 100 years Given the similarity of the concerns of social work and progressivism, it has been argued that because social work from its earliest days adopted a "tradition" of humanitarian social reform--called the "American tradition" by Cohen (1958)--the profession has essentially become identical with progressivism in all major respects Furthermore, it has been asserted that this orientation has distinguished social work from other service professions by giving it a predominantly activist and hberal approach to professional activity (Bisno, 1952; Cohen, 1958; Howard, 1954) Because the issue of whether a progressive tradition actually exists in American social work has lately been questioned (Margolin, 1997), this article reexamines that issue from a broad historical perspective In this way--considering social work and progressivism as interacting trends and not as competing interests--it is possible to gain a more comprehensive view of the subject and not end up merely with a description of a zero-sum game TRADITIONS IN SOCIAL WORK Various attempts have been made over the years to identify traditions in American social work For example, social work authors in the 1950s attempted to identify social work with liberal and progressive traditions to claim that these also constituted an "American" tradition in social work (Cohen, 1958) that gave the profession uniquely progressive values and goals Since that time, other voices in social work have denied these assertions and instead claimed divergent traditions for social work in this country For examples, see Muncy's (1991) tracing of a "female dominion" in American reform and social work, Simon's (1994) efforts to delineate an "empowerment" tradition in American social work, and Martin and Martin's (2003) explication of a black helping tradition in social work in this country In exploring the question of whether social work does indeed possess a progressive tradition, I follow the pattern of these more recent works by addressing three main questions: 1 What is progressivism? 2 Is there evidence that it has been manifested with any regularity in the history of the social work profession? 3 Can it be shown that progressivism has been "passed on" to different generations of social workers in a form that constitutes a "tradition"? WHAT IS PROGRESSIVISM? To explore the first question, I must review a little history Progressivism is a political movement born in the early 20th century as a reaction to the excesses of the American industrialism and expansionism It arose initially in the cities among the middle class, horrified by the growing poverty, political corruption, governmental indifference, corporate arrogance, blatant greed, and national imperialism spawned by the rapid industrial growth and mechanization in American society during the latter part of 19th century (Hofstadter, 1963; Simon, 1994) It is helpful to review briefly its announced goals as embodied in its first official nationwide statement, the Progressive Party platform of 1912 (Shannon, 1966) which was largely crafted by social workers and those sympathetic to social work values The platform, titled "A Covenant with the People" (Shannon, 1966), stressed that the goal of the Progressive Party, "born of the nation's awakened sense of justice" (p 124), was to "destroy [the] invisible government" of special interests established by the "old parties" and substitute the "rule of the people" by instituting such reforms as equal suffrage; limitation of campaign contributions; registration of all lobbyists; and reform of the courts, the judicial system, and civil service …

Allison D. Murdach

Papers

Is Social Work a Human Rights Profession

Social workers' decision making about the violent client

Bargaining and persuasion with nonvoluntary clients

Frances Kellor and the Americanization Movement

Does American Social Work Have a Progressive Tradition