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Organizations of all types and sizes, whether they are a business, educational institution, healthcare provider, or house-of-worship, need to plan for the possibility of violent acts that may impact its people, assets, and activities. Preventing and Managing Violence in Organizations: Workplace Violence, Targeted Violence, and Active Shooters provides a comprehensive approach to addressing workplace violence, active shooter and assailant events, and other forms of targeted violence. The book takes a unique perspective that the prevention and management of violence in an organization is a risk and business management issue, rather than a siloed security issue.　 As such, the book’s objective is to help organizations develop a program for preventing and managing violence that can be integrated into their day-to-day overall business management approach.

The main theme of the book is that any program to prevent and manage violence in an organization needs to be an inclusive process: where everyone in the organization is viewed as a risk maker and risk taker, and therefore, a risk manager. The emphasis is on building a risk and security awareness culture in the organization so that everyone throughout the organization is aware and part of the solution. The book recognizes that many, if not most, organizations do not have a dedicated chief security officer to oversee the prevention and management of violence. It also recognizes that many resource allocation decisions are made by business managers, not the security manager.

While other books approach this issue from a security perspective, this book takes the perspective that providing a safe and secure environment within the organization, and protecting its people, assets, and activities, is a business management imperative. Therefore, the book emphasizes the need to promote a risk and security awareness culture that is integrated into the organization’s system of management and all its activities and functions.　 The “Introduction” section of the book includes a brief description of violence in organizations and the imperative for integrating the prevention and management of violence into the organization’s overall business management strategy. The “Framework” section helps business, human resource, risk, security, and safety managers build a programmatic framework to support prevention and management of violence in all the organizations activities. The “Tactics and Control Measures” section provides tactical and operational advice and tools on methods to prevent, respond to, and recover from potentially violent events.　 For organizations that have adopted an ISO, Robust Process Improvement, or Six-Sigma management systems approach, they will immediately recognize that the elements described in the framework can be integrated seamlessly into their overall management system approach.

Preventing and Managing Violence in Organizations illustrates a systems approach for preventing and managing violence in organizations that can also be used for managing other types of operational risks. Security managers will find the book useful for integrating security in the organization’s day-to-day activities—as an integral part of these activities—rather than an add-on activity. Security professionals will be able to present their program from a business and risk management perspective.

Dr. Marc H. Siegel

Preventing Domestic Homicides: Lessons Learned from Tragedies focuses on the diverse nature of domestic homicides and what has been learned about the most effective prevention strategies from emerging research and the work of domestic violence death review committees in Canada, the US, the UK, NZ and AU. Each chapter focuses on different populations—specifically older women, youth dating relationships, indigenous women, immigrant and refugee populations, rural/remote communities, same-sex relationships, homicides with police & military, domestic homicide in the workplace, and children killed in the context of domestic violence. Topics cover current research, risk factors, and include case studies from domestic homicide review committees.

Cases are summarized regarding major themes and recommendations, such as public awareness, professional training, risk assessment, intervention and collaboration amongst service systems. Written for academic and domestic violence researchers in sociology, criminology, psychology and psychiatry by global contributors with on-the-ground domestic homicide experience.

1st Edition – March 24, 2020

Clinical psychologist and former intelligence officer Eric D. Shaw brings over 30 years of psychological consultation experience to the national security community, corporate investigations and law enforcement to this work on insider risk. After a career in counterterrorism, Dr. Shaw spent the last 20 years concentrating on insiders—employees who commit espionage, sabotage, intellectual property theft, present risks of harm to self and others, and other workplace risks, especially those influenced by mental health conditions.

Dr. Shaw is the author of the Critical Pathway to Insider Risk (CPIR) which addresses the characteristics, experiences and connections at-risk employees bring to our organizations, the stressors that trigger higher levels of risk, the concerning behaviors that signal this risk has increased and the action or inaction by organizations that escalate insider risk. The CPIR also examines what these employees look like when they have broken bad and the personal characteristics, resources and support that can mitigate these risks. Dr. Shaw also examines specific risk accelerators like subject disgruntlement, personality disorders and problematic organizational responses that can escalate the speed and intensity of insider risks. The investigative applications, strengths and weaknesses of the CPIR are also considered.

This work also describes the behavioral science tools deployed in insider investigations, especially those designed to locate and understand persons at-risk and help organizations intervene to avoid escalation or manage potential damage. Case examples are drawn from intelligence community, corporate and law enforcement investigations. Specific insider cases where the use of behavioral science tools is described in detail include leaks, anonymous threats, erotomania, hacking, violence risk, mass destruction threats and espionage.

The work closes with consideration of the many current and future challenges insider risk professionals face. These include the challenge of recognizing suicidal ideation as a gateway to other forms of insider risk, understanding when subject therapy will, and will not reduce risk, deciphering belief in conspiracy theory from significant extremist risk, appreciating insider threats to our elections and the unique challenges posed when the insider is a leader.

Eric Shaw, PhD

156 pages, published in 2022.
Marc Mcelhaney, Ph.D.

The term, “workplace violence” has become a frightful one, suggesting the seemingly sudden emergence of a crazed “active shooter”, resulting in multiple casualties. Dr. McElhaney, a psychological specialist in the prevention and management of high-risk behavior, urges us to reconsider our preconceptions and stereotypes if we are ever going to be able to successfully prevent these often-fatal events. Relying on real examples from his files, he demonstrates that these at-risk individuals always exist among us, often unrecognized, but for a variety of reasons and circumstances, have come to pose a danger to those around them. He introduces us specifically to the events surrounding Maria, Patrick, and Neil, otherwise “normal” individuals in most circumstances, but who had encountered a perfect storm of events in their lives that, without early recognition and intervention, could have resulted in violent consequences. In the second half of this book, the author provides us with a step-by-step guide to establishing a process that enables us to identify and safely manage these behaviors before they result in dangerous and fatal consequences. This is a critical read for any manager – or for any of us for that matter.