There were also major differences in how social workers working in different community locations viewed the community surrounding the school. Those describing themselves as working in inner-cities were also more to describe the community surrounding the school as dangerous. Social workers who described themselves as members of ethnic minority groups were significantly more likely than social workers who identified themselves as white to view the community surrounding the school as dangerous. However, as mentioned earlier, this may stem from the fact that a high percentage of the inner-city workers were people of color. It should be noted that there were no differences between white and social workers of colors’ perceptions in inner-city or in the other community settings. (Astor, 1997)
Although incidents involving the most serious forms of violence have been, in the past, relatively rare, data suggests that various forms of assault and threats to personal safety are more prevalent. In a study conducted by NASW, 35 percent of the respondents reported being physically assaulted or threatened during the past year. Of those who reported being physically assaulted or physically threatened, 77 percent identified the assailant as a student, 49 percent identified the attacker as a parent, and 11 percent identified the perpetrator as a student game member. (Astor, 1997)
Becoming more aware of the need to be proactive in personal safety, school social workers reported taking a variety of precautions to protect themselves. Some of the more common strategies included leaving money at home, not wearing certain colors or styles of clothing, and avoiding the school after dark.
If the fear of threat to personal safety gets to strong, some social workers may consider leaving the social work profession completely. Surprisingly, though, the majority of school social workers had never considered leaving the profession because of worries about school violence. (Astor, 1997) Based on this report, the majority of workers that had considered leaving had considered doing so once a year or less. A very small percentage claimed that they had considered leaving once a month or more. Perhaps as a result of a greater fear for their personal safety, social workers in inner-city schools were more likely than school social workers in urban, suburban, and rural schools to report that they had considered leaving the profession. On the basis of these results, it is unclear how many social workers would stay in the profession but move to another social position. (Allen-Meares, 1994)
In contrast to the lack of large scale systematic investigation in the US several comprehensive surveys and direct interview studies have been conducted in the United Kingdom. Findings from this research suggest that violence toward social workers is a significant issue in the UK. In response to the results of these studies, the British Association of Social Workers and the British government created training programs to “Equip social workers with the knowledge and skills to protect themselves while providing uncompromised services to clients.” (Newhill, 1996, p. 632)
In April of 2008 in the United Kingdom, a 47-year-old employee of the Lancashire County Council died from multiple stab wounds during a home visit. Mr. Ellison had worked for the Council as part of the adult and community services department. When police arrived, they found a 51-year-old man in an agitated state. He was arrested for the crime. After this incident, a council member was quoted as saying “Some of our social workers work with people who have the potential to do harm, mostly to themselves, but also to other people. I know social workers get a lousy press, but it should remind people they do an important and sometimes dangerous job.” (Preston, 2008 )
Ellison’s death was cause for much debate and research into the safety of social workers in the United Kingdom. After Ellison’s death, a Council member explained that it is sometimes impossible to gauge that you are walking into a high risk situation if you have had no warning that a client has a past history of violence. My citizens in the United Kingdom are wondering when something is going to be done to protect their workers. Social workers are told not to go out alone of there is potential for violence, but find that due to staff shortages, find it necessary to visit clients without the aid of a another worker.
The U.S. has responded to this problem in the past on a case by case basis. It seems as a social worker is killed various laws and procedures go into effect. Client violence against social workers has received little attention by our profession. Despite social work’s history of home visits with society’s most vulnerable clients who are often at risk of dangerous and unpredictable voluntary and involuntary episodes of violence, with the shift from hospital to community psychiatric care, and the increase in home visitation programs, few agencies have appropriate safety policies in place. Because it is in the clients own environment that social workers may be the most vulnerable (Rowett, 1989), staff safety is a crucial concern particularly for agency social workers and administrators providing I home psychiatric intervention services, Regrettably, it appears that safety is not a priority in agency program trainings (Newhill, 1995). When staff safety is addresses, the primary focus tends to be US federal workplace safety standards. (Griffin, 1995).
