Outcomes of Aggression and Victimization in Social Welfare Services

• Published in: Social work (New York) Vol. 69; no. 3; pp. 221 - 229
• Main Authors: Hadar, Keren, Enosh, Guy, Tzafrir, Shay S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 21.06.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Aggression; Aggression - psychology; Crime Victims - psychology; Female; Humans; Israel; Male; Middle Aged; Social Welfare - psychology; Social Work; Social Workers - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Victimization; Welfare Services; Workplace - psychology; Israel; workplace aggression; workplace victimization; social welfare services
• ISSN: 0037-8046; 1545-6846; 1545-6846
• DOI: 10.1093/sw/swae015

Abstract This study examined two significant phenomena that occur in the workplace, aggression and victimization, and their outcomes. The study’s participants were 470 social workers employed by social welfare services in Israel. The examined outcomes were stress symptoms, emotional exhumation, and decline in quality of service climate. The associations between aggression, victimization, and their outcomes were examined via linear regression during Stata 14. The study found that the similar outcomes of aggression and victimization are stress symptoms and emotional exhaustion, while service climate (decline in quality) was associated only with victimization. While most studies have examined mainly victimization outcomes, the current study examined both aggression and victimization outcomes. This article sheds light on the similarities and the difference of outcomes between aggression and victimization and explicates the phenomena of workplace aggression from two important and complementary aspects of aggression and victimization. It is important to refer to either aggression or victimization while considering workplace aggression. Authors recommend for further studies to continue to investigate both aggression and victimization while researching workplace aggression outcomes.