Workplace violence in the Psychosocial Care Centers of a city in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

Workplace violence against health care professionals is a highly prevalent problem and is considered a public health concern by the World Health Organization. Yet most studies on the topic focus on its negative impact on the mental health of workers rather than the causes of these incidents. To describe the frequency of workplace violence and its impact on professionals working in Psychosocial Care Centers (Centros de Atenção Psicossocial [CAPS]) in a large city in the state of São Paulo. A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted on a non-probabilistic sample of 193 health care workers across 11 Psychosocial Care Centers. Participants completed two self-administered instruments: a biosocial questionnaire and the Survey Questionnaire on Workplace Violence. The results showed that 42.4% of respondents had suffered physical violence; 64.8% had experienced psychological violence; and 29.5% had been victims of bullying/mobbing. In most cases, the victims responded to these incidents by taking no action, asking the perpetrator to stop, or speaking of the incident to a colleague or superior. A verbal warning was issued to perpetrators in only 21% of cases of physical violence. Mobbing had the greatest negative impact on respondents, followed by psychological and physical violence. Workplace violence is a part of everyday work in Psychosocial Care Centers. Though this violence is often naturalized and considered a collective defense against suffering, it did not prevent participants from reporting high levels of job satisfaction, reflecting the degree to which professionals at Psychosocial Care Centers are committed to their colleagues and to service users, as well as their search for professional recognition.