Washington D.C. and the Increased Workplace Violence

The increase of workplace violence is quite alarming.  Some try to explain it away and attribute some of the violent incidents in the workplace to domestic disputes that aren’t really work related but incidents of domestic origin  where the spouse or lover enters the office of his significant other and creates violence.    These particular incidents are often attributed to a bad economy and the financial frustration that burdens a good many families.  People let it build up, and then they explode.

But feeling frustrated about the economy, about job prospects and one’s love life in general is a notable distance to actually killing or hurting someone.  And then of course acting out over some real or perceived slight may be attributable to internal frustration or even mental imbalances, but doesn’t say much for common values or self-control.    People shouldn’t be hurting people on the job.  Office sniping is bad enough, but real sniping, which has occurred, is something else altogether.

Washington D.C. has experienced recently several instances of workplace violence.   Emily Babay in an article in the Washington Examiner writes about workplace violence in the D.C. area.   Workplace violence in D.C. has increased, while it has declined in various parts of the country.  Baby writes that most incidents of workplace violence are a result of robberies.  Usually, these murders are a result of one employee working alone, being robbed and then murdered.  But there are the other incidents, not just he murders but the beatings, and then the personal attacks on fellow employees that can cause lasting psychological damage.

No matter what variety, workplace violence has a lasting negative impact on both the working environment and the surrounding community.   Workplace violence causes a drop in office morale and leaves the surrounding community with that awful lump-ion-your throat feeling that his kind of thing can happen next door.  People in a community remember these violent episodes for a long time after.

The article is well worth reading.  I found the charts showing the year to year statistics on workplace violence in the general D.C. area to be of great interest.  As the job market remain tight and people fear for their livelihoods, frustration will remain high and workplace violence is more likely to occur.   One more reason for getting the economy back on solid footing.