Dear Colleagues,

Over the past several years, the focus on threats and violence at the workplace has intensified considerably. A variety of studies conducted in Europe describe this violence as a growing problem (Chappell & Di Martino, 2006; Heiskanen 2007). An important sociological study has found that the perceptions and definitions of violence are dependent on the context; it is not possible to untie the concept of violence from the cultural context in which it is acted (Estrada et al., 2010). This is important because we know that the attention that society directs towards a given social problem involves the way in which it is perceived and the extent to which it becomes visible in official statistics (Estrada, 2001; Steffensmeier et al., 2005). To describe the phenomenon of workplace violence, it is therefore essential to focus on the possible meanings attributed to the violent behaviors suffered by the various parties involved (Waddington et al., 2005). For scholars, the difficulty in defining this phenomenon is the lack of a linear and simple relationship between what happens with respect to the behavior enacted and its consequences for victims, the work team, the social context, and the organization (Waddington et al., 2005; Estrada et al., 2010). In order not to exclude some of the various elements that define workplace violence, most scholars agree on using a generalized and generalizable definition. One of the most used is the definition by WHO (2002): “The intentional use of power, including threat of physical force, against another person or group, that can result in harm to physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. It includes verbal abuse, bullying/mobbing, harassment and threats”. The behaviors that this term encompasses include: harassment, including sexual and racial harassment, bullying, intimidation, threats, ostracism, leaving offensive messages, aggressive postures, crude gestures, hostile behavior, cursing, shouting, insulting, malicious insinuations, and intentional silence (Chappel & Di Martino, 2000, p. 11). The individual consequences can be both physical (injury, until death) and psychological (anxiety, fear, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder). The latter can be more serious than the former and vary from a minimum state of alert until prolonged absences from work occur, with a more or less serious compromise, to the extreme event of suicide. Workplace violence has short-term (feeling helpless, anxiety), social (disappointment, avoidance), biophysiological (sleep impairment, tension), cognitive (anger), and long-term emotional (fear of the aggressor) consequences. A systematic review of workplace violence has shown that, despite differences between countries, cultures, methods of research, and environments, the responses of victims are very similar and include immediate reactions such as frustration, fear, anxiety, and anger.

Healthcare providers are the workers who are most at risk of violence in workplace. Due to their continuous contact with suffering people and their relatives/friends, they often experience some form of negative social behaviour. Despite the great number of healthcare workers who are victims of workplace violence, only few incidents are reported.

This Special Issue aims to document workplace violence in the Healthcare Sector in different contexts and its consequences for individuals, groups, organizations, and society. In addition to contributions from different contexts, we also welcome contributions from researchers around the globe, including non-western countries. We also welcome studies that describe the implementation of programs for prevention and intervention, irrespective of their success or failure, as both are important and can be learnt from.

Dr. Daniela Maran
Prof. Dr. Nicola Magnavita
Guest Editors

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• mobbing
• occupation stalking
• harassment
• sexual harassment
• prevention
• intervention
• LGBTQ

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