Researchers in the south east of England set out to look at the experiences of violence at work in of staff in community learning disability teams.

Following a brief survey sent to six such teams, the experiences were explored further in a series of in-depth interviews with a sub-sample of respondents.

The survey suggested that that 34% of respondents had experienced some form of verbal or physical aggression at work during the previous six months. The themes that emerged from the analysis of responses focused on the types of risks faced by these staff; factors that helped with risk assessment and management, including some concerns expressed about why such things do not always happen and the way in which workers developed skills in managing such risks.

The authors then discuss the implications of their findings in relation to gaps in training and the potential role of informal learning processes in addressing the specific needs of community staff as indentified in the research.

Experiences of violence at work in community intellectual disability teams, Daynes S et al., in Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 5, 3, 6-14