Preventing violence at school and work

Source: (2000) Gazette: A Royal Canadian Mounted Police Publication 62 (4): 13-16.

Mike Webster states that the prevention of school and workplace violence has become one of the most important issues facing communities. Webster criticizes the dispositional approach to understanding and preventing institutional violence. This approach emphasizes “the profileâ€? – a concentration on the intra-personal qualities and disposition of potential or actual perpetrators of violence. In Webster’s perspective, the dispositional approach does not account for the interactional nature of violence, the variability of personal psychology over time and place, and the occurrence or non-occurrence of a violent act. Personality is certainly important. Yet Webster emphasizes understanding and preventing institutional violence in terms of context and process: precipitating factors; proximal stressors; availability of weapons; social approval of violence; the vulnerability of the victim; and related conditions.