Interpersonal Violence:
Can be defined as any sort of sexual harassment, stalking, sexual assault, date/ acquaintance rape, domestic violence, hate crimes, physical, mental or emotional disrespect of any kind that demeans the other person.
Statistics:
- 1 out of 3 females and 1 out of 6 males will be sexually assaulted by the time they reach the age of 18
- Nearly 90% of those raped knew their attacker: 52% are acquaintances, 14% are intimate partners, 26% are family members, 8% are strangers.
- In Whatcom County the youngest victim to be reported to the Sexual Assault Program was 6 months old; the oldest was 83.
- Of every 1,000 pregnant women, 154 are assaulted by their partner during the first four months of pregnancy. During the 5th through the 9th month, 170 out of 1,000 pregnant women are assaulted.
- Incidence of elder abuse was found to be 32 of 1,000 in persons over age 65.
- 40% of teenage girls ages 14-17 say they know someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
- 4 in 10 instances of domestic violence include people who are not married
History of Interpersonal Violence
In the 1980’s there was a surge in urban violence that the public linked to individuals that were either black or in poverty. This mindset was studied through the Chicago school disorganization theory and pursued further by Shaw and McKay’d Juvenile Delinquency and Urban areas in
1942. The disorganization theory basically states that juvenile delinquency and acts of violence are linked to structure, not psychological facto rs. When studies were done in the 90’s and it became clear that interpersonal violence was equally as common among white people as it was blacks, people began to realize they had linked violence inappropriately to a particular population.
They had consider ed only physical difference (race, economic status, gender) and didn’t take into account any outlying factors. It is now more common to believe that violence is based off of other psychological and outlying factors than it is to gender, race or economic status.
FOR ALL FOLLOWING CATEGORIZE: What is it, statistics about it, why it is happening:
Workplace Violence:
The Justice Department reports that nearly one million violent crimes - or almost one-sixth of all reported violent crimes in the country - occur in the workplace
Most homicides result from arguments or disputes between two people who know each other well, such as co-workers. A seemingly simple verbal conflict may eventually escalate into a violent act. In many instances, those who witness these adversarial verbal exchanges fail to see the danger of the situation; as a result, the problem remains, and violent behavior can eventually ensues.
In many workplace incidents, management and their companies have failed to identify the potential danger signals early enough, or to prepare, nor respond properly. Nearly 25% of the 311 companies surveyed by the American Management Association, the AMA, said at least one of their workers had been attacked, or killed on the job since 1990. However, and according to the same survey, only 24% offered some employees formal training on coping with workplace violence. Only 10% offered such training to all employees. Fewer than 50% of the firms surveyed had procedures in place to deal with violent incidents, other than to have employees call the police by dialing "911", thus demonstrating an obvious lack of preparedness in this area.
Martial Violence:

Couple/ Dating Violence:
20% of dating couples report some kind of violence in their relationship.
GLBT Violence:
Eldery Violence:
The National Academies estimate between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care.
Most incidents of elder abuse don’t happen in a nursing home. Occasionally, there are shocking reports of nursing home residents who are mistreated by the staff. Such abuse does occur-but it is not the most common type of elder abuse. Most elder abuse and neglect takes place at home.
The great majority of older people live on their own or with their spouses, children, siblings, or other relatives-not in institutional settings. When elder abuse happens, family, other household members, and paid caregivers usually are the abusers. Although there are extreme cases of elder abuse, often the abuse is subtle, and it can be hard to tell the difference between normal interpersonal stress and abuse. Elderly abuse can be physical, but much of it can be emotional as well. There have been hundreds of reports in various nursing home around the state of elderly individuals complaining of feeling worthless or unwanted or in the way because of the way the staff treats them.
Madeline is 75 and suffers from congestive heart failure. She lives alone, with home health nurses and nurses ’ aides coming in daily to provide nursing care and personal assistance. She depends on the home health agency’s personal assistant to help her with the routine tasks around the house and to provide interaction with someone from the outside world. At first, the assistant was sweet to Madeline, but lately, the assistant has started ignoring Madeline’s requests, snapping at her, and bumping into her with the vacuum cleaner or dusting brush while cleaning. Madeline thinks the assistant is bumping her on purpos e, but she doesn’t know for sure, and she’s afraid to confront her.
Many of these elderly folks don’t have anyone else in their life to turn to and are either too scared or too embarrassed to try and reach out into the community for help, so it just continues to happen.
Family Violence:
An Austrian man by the name of Josef Fritzl locked his 19 year old daughter up in an underground basement cellar that he had built for 24 years. He fathered seven of her children and allowed only 3 of them to be brought upstairs into the main home. The last 4 children, excluding one that died during birth, were kept downstairs with the daughter. It wasn’t until 2008 that the family was discovered when one of the kids fell deathly ill and the secrets began unwinding.
This, obviously, is a very rare case. But the thing about family violence is that at times it can be extremely difficult to detect and can oftentimes go unnoticed for long periods of time.
How does this happen?
Root Causes of Violence
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Poverty and unemployment
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Underemployment and economic disequilibrium
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Lack of housing and displacement
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Circumstances of racism and injustice

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Alcohol and substance abuse
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Hopelessness and despair
Present power and control wheel
QUOTE FROM ZAISS HERE
Mention: Domestic V iolence for a long time was seen as simply a “women’s problem.”
We are here to tell you that this is NOT the case. Violence and Abuse can effect everyone in any situation.
Cycle of Violence Wheel
Human Services Perspective and Safety
A common question is How can people let this happen to themselves? As for a HS professional we need to be able to resist judgement and be empathetic to their current stage in life. It is our job to provide options for help and alternatives to their situation, but it is not our job to force them into a decision they may not be ready to make.
- A survey of 500 young women ages 15-24 found that 60% were currently involved in an ongoing abusive relationship. We wanted to include this statistic because it is proof that often times people are conscious of the fact that they are involved in an abusive relationship, but many don’t see another way out. So, it is our job to be informed and be able to provide services.
Ways to keep yourself safe in the workplace as human services professionals, and on the everyday:
- Consider your surroundings and be conscious of the risk levels. Some locations are more risky than others.
- If you ever feel unsafe or uncomfortable in the workplace, it is important to contact your supervisors and coworkers immediately.
- It is a good idea to be trained in physical restraint techniques that can be used if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation with a client. These methods should be safe, non-violent and respectful of the client. It may also be a good idea to have working knowledge in CPR and first aid.