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The British Journal of Developmental Disabilities Vol. 49, Part 1, JANUARY 2003, No. 96, pp. 3-21 VIOLENT INCIDENTS AND STAFF STRESS Ruth Howard and John R. Hegarty
Summary Background This paper considers the experiences of staff who daily endure violent attacks whilst working with children with severe to profound learning disability and extreme challenging behaviour. It aims to promote an increased understanding of the emotional effects of violence on staff and how adverse reactions can be minimised. Aims 1. To describe the experiences and emotional reactions of staff to violent incidents. 2. To examine the effects of violence on the teaching and care relationship that staff members have with children. 3. To establish what factors influence emotional reactions to violence. Method Six members of staff in a residential school for children with (often violent) challenging behaviour and learning disabilities were interviewed, and the results content-analysed. Results Staff frequently experienced violent incidents including scratching, kicking, pinching and punching. Minor incidents occurred hourly; more major attacks almost daily. Numerous emotional reactions, particularly shock, anger, fear and frustration were found. These emotional reactions, however, appeared to be short lived: few long-term effects upon the relationship with the child were reported. Staff members’ perception of the violence affected how they coped with it, as did the support they received. Informal support from other staff, supervision, training, counselling, experience, the ability to express emotion, personal coping styles and trust in the staff team were identified as important. Conclusions and implications Violence causes emotional reactions which are stressful. Their effect can be helped by staff training and support. Organisations should foster mutual support in staff teams, allow opportunities for staff to have time out during working hours and provide training (such as in behaviourist techniques) which help staff to take a positive approach to dealing with violent incidents. Further research might investigate how the “emotional skills” needed to cope with violent incidents are acquired by staff over time and how best they can be encouraged
Ruth Howard, BA, MA in Community Care (Learning Disability) Assistant Psychologist, Adult Mental Health Services, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6QG, UK *John R. Hegarty, BA, PhD Director of Learning Disability Studies, Department of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK Tel: +44 (0)1782 583386 Fax: +44 (0)1782 583387 E-mail: j.r.hegarty@psy.keele.ac.uk * For Correspondence |