Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Psychiatric Quarterly
Published in: Psychiatric Quarterly 3/2006

01-09-2006 | Original Paper

Characteristics of Assaultive Psychiatric Patients: Fifteen-Year Analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP)

Authors: Raymond B. Flannery Jr., Ph.D., Jerry Juliano, L.I.C.S.W., Susan Cronin, R.N., Andrew P. Walker, B.A.

Published in: Psychiatric Quarterly | Issue 3/2006

Login to get access

Abstract

This study reports on a fifteen-year longitudinal analysis of the characteristics of assaultive patients in one public-sector mental health care system. The data were gathered within the context of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP), a crisis intervention service for staff victims. The fifteen-year findings were consistent with previous worldwide research on assaultive patients and included both older male patients with schizophrenia and younger personality-disordered patients as high-risk assailants. Both groups had appreciable histories of violence toward others, personal victimization, and substance use disorders. The role of these three clinical variables in association with subsequent assaults, the role of trauma in female assailants, and the consistency of the fundamental characteristics of assaultive patients during several service system initiatives were examined. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.
Literature
1.
Peek-Asa C, Schaffer K, Kraus J, et al.: Surveillance of nonfatal workplace assault injuries using police and employers reports. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 40:707–713, 1998.PubMedCrossRef
2.
Soloff PH, Gutheil TG, Wexler DB: Seclusion and restraint in 1985: A review and update. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 36:652–657, 1985.PubMed
3.
Blair DT: Assaultive behavior: Does provocation begin in the front office? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing 29:21–26, 1991.
4.
Davis S: Violence in psychiatric patients: A review. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 42:585–590, 1991.PubMed
5.
Lipscomb JA, Love CC: Violence toward health care workers: An emerging occupational hazard. American Association of Hospital Nurses Journal 40:219–227, 1992.
6.
American Psychiatric Association. Clinician Safety. Task Force Report #33. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 1992.
7.
Flannery RB Jr, Hanson MA, Penk WE: Risk factors for psychiatric inpatient assaults on staff. Journal of Mental Health Administration 21:24–31, 1994.PubMedCrossRef
8.
Hansen W: Workplace violence in the hospital psychiatric setting: An occupational health perspective. American Association of Hospital Nurses Journal 44:575–580, 1996.
9.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration: Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence in Health Care and Social Service Workers. Publication #3148. Washington, DC, United States Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.
10.
Busch AB, Shore MF: Seclusion and restraint: A review of the literature. Harvard Review of Psychiatry 8:261–270, 2000.PubMedCrossRef
11.
Flannery RB Jr: Assaultive patients in community residences: Review of findings and implications for health care safety. Journal of Health Care Safety, Compliance, and Infection Control 4:218–220, 2000.
12.
Flannery RB Jr: Characteristics of assaultive psychiatric inpatients: Updated review of findings, 1995–2000. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias 16:153–156, 2001.PubMedCrossRef
13.
Flannery RB Jr: Psychiatric patient assault and staff victim gender: Review of findings. Journal of Healthcare Safety, Compliance, and Infection Control 5:69–72, 2001.
14.
Flannery RB Jr: Repetitively assaultive psychiatric patients: Review of published findings, 1978–2001. Psychiatric Quarterly 73:229–237, 2002.PubMedCrossRef
15.
Flannery RB Jr: Precipitants to psychiatric patient assaults on staff: Review of empirical findings, 1990–2003. Psychiatric Quarterly 2004, in press.
16.
Medical Directors Council, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors: Reducing the use of seclusion and restraint: Findings, strategies, and recommendations. Emergency Psychiatry 6:7–13, 2000.
17.
Flannery RB Jr: The Assaulted Staff Action Program: Coping with the Psychological Aftermath of Violence. Ellicott City, MD, Chevron Publishing Corporation, 1998.
18.
Litz B (Ed): Early Interventions for Trauma and Traumatic Loss. New York: Guilford Press, 2004.
19.
Flannery RB Jr, Schuler AP, Farley EM et al.: Characteristics of assaultive psychiatric patients: Ten Year analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP). Psychiatric Quarterly 73:59–69, 2002.
20.
Lion JR, Snyder W, Merrill GC: Underreporting of assaults on staff in a state hospital. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 32:497–498, 1981.PubMed
21.
Devilly GJ, Cotton P: Psychological debriefing and the workplace: Defining a concept, controversies and guidelines for intervention. Australian Psychologist 38:144–150, 2003.CrossRef
22.
Everly GS Jr, Mitchell JT: Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM): A New Era and Standard of Care in Crisis Intervention. 2nd Ed. Ellicott City, MD: Chevron Publishing, 1999.
23.
Seligman MEP: The effectives of psychotherapy: The Consumer Reports study. American Psychologist 50:965–974, 1995.PubMedCrossRef
24.
McNally RJ, Bryant RA, Ehlers A: Does early psychological intervention promote recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder? Psychological Science in the Public Interest 4:45–79, 2003.CrossRef
25.
Flannery RB Jr, Juliano J, Walker AP: Past violence, substance use disorder and subsequent violence toward others: Six year analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP). International Journal of Emergency Mental Health 21:143–148, 2000.
26.
Campbell A, Muncer S, Bibel D: Female-female criminal assault: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 35:413–429, 1998.CrossRef
27.
Flannery RB Jr: Violence in America: Coping with Drugs, Distressed Families, Inadequate Schooling, and Acts of Hate. New York, NY, Continuum Publishing, 2000.
Metadata
Title
Characteristics of Assaultive Psychiatric Patients: Fifteen-Year Analysis of the Assaulted Staff Action Program (ASAP)
Authors
Raymond B. Flannery Jr., Ph.D.
Jerry Juliano, L.I.C.S.W.
Susan Cronin, R.N.
Andrew P. Walker, B.A.
Publication date
01-09-2006
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Psychiatric Quarterly / Issue 3/2006
Print ISSN: 0033-2720
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6709
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-006-9011-1

Other articles of this Issue 3/2006

Psychiatric Quarterly 3/2006 Go to the issue

Original Paper

The Premature Demise of Public Child and Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Beds

Original Paper

Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Use of Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Use Services by Depressed Adults

Original Paper

Effects of Medical Crisis Intervention on Anxiety, Depression, and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis

Original Paper

The Impact of Psychiatric Comorbidity on General Hospital Length of Stay

Original Paper

Social Functioning in Body Dysmorphic Disorder: Assessment Considerations