Twenty-six percent (26%) of employed adults say they have seriously thought that someone in their workplace was capable of mass violence...

I read this poll over at Rasmussen a href=”http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/jobs_employment/november_2009/26_have_worked_with_someone_they_thought_capable_of_mass_violence”and wasn’t surprised:/abr /br /blockquoteTwenty-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.br /br /Most working adults (64%), however, say they have not seriously thought a co-worker would be capable of such violence. Another 11% are undecided.br /br /One-in-three men (33%) say they have held that thought before, compared to only 17% of women.br /br /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. /blockquotebr /br /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 span style=”font-style:italic;”so many/span 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? br /br /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 a href=”http://www.dps.siu.edu/cp_workplace_violence.htm”1000 people murdered at work each year./a But, less reassuring is a href=”http://www.dps.siu.edu/cp_workplace_violence.htm”1.5 million are assaulted /ain the workplace each year. br /br /A good book that I use if you are looking for one on the topic is a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761906150?ie=UTF8tag=wwwviolentkicomlinkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=0761906150″span style=”font-style:italic;”Preventing Workplace Violence: A Guide for Employers and Practitioners./span/aimg src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicoml=as2o=1a=0761906150″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” /