Citation

Peluola A, Mela M, Adelugba OO. Med. Sci. Law 2013; 53(2): 72-79.

Affiliation

Medical Director, Victory Associates Inc Saskatoon; Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Saskatchewan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, British Academy of Forensic Sciences, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1258/msl.2012.012016

PMID

23362235

Abstract

There have been several attempts made to reduce the occurrence of violence in hospital settings, with most professional organizations taking a stance. The impact of violent incidence on the therapeutic environment and the cost in human terms led to the declaration by the World Health Organization that violence is a public health problem. There are strategies for reducing violence that flow out of known trends. We sought to examine the trends in institutional violence in a contextual sense. We reviewed the records of all incidents of violence, categorized by severity, victims and trends over five years in a multilevel secure forensic hospital in Canada. The rate of violence perpetrated by female patients was significantly higher than for male patients. Higher occurrence of violence was recorded in the winter months compared with any other season and was related to unstructured activities. There is a window of opportunity to develop some engaging programmes during the long winter months and improve supervision at all times of unstructured activity. The reasons for increased women perpetration and the winter peak of violence require further investigation.

Language: en