I read this poll over at Rasmussen
and wasn't surprised:Twenty-six percent (26%) of employed adults say they have seriously thought that someone in their workplace was capable of mass violence, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Most working adults (64%), however, say they have not seriously thought a co-worker would be capable of such violence. Another 11% are undecided.
One-in-three men (33%) say they have held that thought before, compared to only 17% of women.
Forty-three percent (43%) of government workers say they have felt a fellow employee was capable of mass violence, more than double the number among those who work for private companies.
A few thoughts about this. First, why do so many government workers think their co-workers want to commit mass violence? Could it be that there are just
so many government workers that some may seem or act in a way that makes people think they are violent? Could it be that government workers are more suspicious of their co-workers, or could it be that the government does a poor job of screening and hires people who have behavior that is unstable, and never gets rid of them?
Second, are men just more suspicious of people or better at sensing dangerous behavior than women? And finally, with 26% of respondents to this poll thinking that their co-worker is the next mass murderer, it is reassuring to know that there are only about
1000 people murdered at work each year. But, less reassuring is
1.5 million are assaulted in the workplace each year.
A good book that I use if you are looking for one on the topic is
Preventing Workplace Violence: A Guide for Employers and Practitioners.Labels: mass murder, polls