Citation

Rauscher KJ. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2008; 51(7): 539-544.

Affiliation

University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ajim.20590

PMID

18491372

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Workplace violence is a significant problem yet most research on this topic has focused on adults. Despite facing numerous employment conditions that raise their risk for workplace violence, adolescent workers have received inadequate attention. METHODS: Survey data from 1,171 US students ages 14-17 were analyzed using descriptive statistics to investigate the incidence and perpetrators of physical attacks, verbal threats, and sexual harassment. RESULTS: Nearly one-third of respondents experienced some form of workplace violence: 25% verbally threatened, 10% physically attacked, and 10% sexually harassed. Significant demographic differences were found. The most common perpetrators of physical attacks and verbal threats were customers while sexual harassment most often came from co-workers. CONCLUSIONS: Many working adolescents, most with only a fewyears work experience, have already suffered workplace violence. As youth are likely to be more vulnerable to its effects, developing workplace violence prevention strategies that target adolescent workers should be made a priority.

Language: en