Exposure to aggression in three contexts of emergency response: A longitudinal examination of the relationship with psychological characteristics of the emergency responder.

Some emergency responders are more often exposed to workplace aggression than others. Victimological theories and previous studies suggest that characteristics of the target may predict exposure to workplace aggression. This paper examines the relationship between negative affect, hostile attribution, dominance, empathy, self-evaluations, and exposure to workplace aggression among emergency responders. Emergency medical workers, firefighters and police officers in the Netherlands filled in a survey during three measurement occasions (6 months apart). Results from the three occupational groups were presented separately. Results suggest that some psychological characteristics are related to exposure to workplace aggression, but that the contribution of these characteristics in the explanation of exposure to workplace aggression is limited. In addition, although differences between occupational groups could not be statistically tested due to differences in the factor structure of exposure to workplace aggression between the three groups of emergency response, differences seem to occur in models between emergency response contexts. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Aggression Against Police Officers and Behavior Toward Citizens: Reciprocal Influence or Common Causes?

Police officers are often the victim of aggression by citizens, which has negative consequences for them and society in general. Therefore, it is important to gain knowledge about related factors. This study examines to what extent experiencing aggression as a police officer is related to their patience with citizens and use of force weapons and tools. Two explanations based on the victim-offender overlap are examined: experiences of aggression and behavior toward citizens influence each other vs. both have common causes. This study was conducted on the basis of a longitudinal survey among police officers (N = 693). The results show that behavior toward citizens, including patience with citizens and the use of force is related to the aggression police officers experience. The association decreases but does not disappear when common causes are taken into account, in this case socio-demographic and work-related characteristics. No direct support is found for reciprocal influence. Implications and suggestions for further research are described.

Measuring and Modeling Exposure to External Workplace Aggression in Three Types of Emergency Responders.

The measurement properties of indices about workplace aggression initiated by the public, referred to as external workplace aggression, are under-researched. This study addressed how exposure to external workplace aggression is best measured and modeled in three types of emergency responders. The study inspected the factor structure and explored the addition of severity to an existing measure of frequency of exposure to workplace aggression, which addresses forms of physical aggression, threats, and verbal and nonverbal/nonphysical aggression (gestures) by people outside the organization directed toward employees. Self-reported data from 1,499 emergency responders, including emergency medical workers, firefighters, and police officers in the Netherlands, were analyzed using factor analyses in Mplus. In addition, the relationships between workplace aggression indices and a measure of the situational risk for violence were tested. Results show that the frequency index measured exposure to external workplace aggression better than the index combining the frequency and severity, and that factor structures of indices differed, regarding number and content of factors, between the three groups of emergency responders. An important implication is that researchers and policy employees can use a relatively simple measure to examine exposure to aggression in organizations.

Experiencing External Workplace Violence: Differences in Indicators Between Three Types of Emergency Responders.

Police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical workers are at a relatively high risk of experiencing external workplace violence (EWPV), that is, violence initiated by people outside the organization. Based on criminal opportunities theories, the aim of this research was to study to what extent socio-demographic and work characteristics are related to experiencing EWPV. In addition, the aim was to explore how these relations differ between the three types of emergency responders. Data from a workplace violence survey of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands was used, from which emergency medical workers ( n = 264), firefighters ( n = 255), and police officers ( n = 296) were selected. Results indicated that police officers experienced most and firefighters experienced least EWPV. Younger professionals and professionals who have more frequent and risky contact experienced more EWPV. The expectations that males and those with less skills or experience to avoid EWPV experience more EWPV were not convincingly supported. The relationships between characteristics and EWPV, and the explanatory power of the models, differed between types of emergency responders. The studied characteristics best explained variations in EWPV of police officers, and therefore prevention of EWPV by addressing these characteristics will be most successful for police officers. The prediction of EWPV should be improved, for example, by studying the relationship with "attractiveness" or "vulnerability" of the possible victim, such as psychological characteristics of professionals. The study showed that research about indicators and prevention of EWPV should be aimed at separate professions.

Social Information Processing Mechanisms and Victimization: A Literature Review.

The aim of the current literature review, which is based on 64 empirical studies, was to assess to what extent mechanisms of the Social Information Processing (SIP) model of Crick and Dodge (1994) are related to victimization. The reviewed studies have provided support for the relation between victimization and several social information processing mechanisms, especially the interpretation of cues and self-efficacy (as part of the response decision). The relationship between victimization and other mechanisms, such as the response generation, was only studied in a few articles. Until now research has often focused on just one step of the model, instead of attempting to measure the associations between multiple mechanisms and victimization in multivariate analyses. Such analyses would be interesting to gain more insight into the SIP model and its relationship with victimization. The few available longitudinal studies show that mechanisms both predict victimization (internal locus of control, negative self-evaluations and less assertive response selection) and are predicted by victimization (hostile attribution of intent and negative evaluations of others). Associations between victimization and SIP mechanisms vary across different types and severity of victimization (stronger in personal and severe victimization), and different populations (stronger among young victims). Practice could focus on these stronger associations and the interpretation of cues. More research is needed however, to investigate whether intervention programs that address SIP mechanisms are suitable for victimization and all relevant populations.