Violence against women and the assaulted staff action program

Women have been subjected to high rates of victimization at home, in the community, and at work. An earlier study found female inpatient staff to be at risk for same-gender patient assaults in psychiatric hospitals and female community residential staff to be at increased risk for assaults from male patients in residences. This study sought to revisit the original 2-year findings during a subsequent 6-year period. Inpatient and community assault data were gathered within the context of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP), a post-incident crisis response approach. Female inpatient staff were again found to be at increased risk in both inpatient and community settings. However, in this second study, female community residential staff were found to be at increased risk for assault from both male and female patients. The findings and their implications are discussed.