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| Authors | Year | Origin | Objective | Methodology | Data and instruments used | Results |
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| Brend D. | 2020 | Canada | Examine specific psychological distress of residential care workers | Qualitative | Individual interviews | (i) Childcare workers can suffer negative impacts on their well-being as a result of exposure to distressing experiences at work, such as violence
(ii) The workers’ psychological distress must be addressed by the systems that employ them because the functioning of those systems is involved in that suffering
(iii) Expanding the culture of the human resources’ approach serves to recognize the potentially distressing nature of the professional role |
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| Geoffrion S., Lamothe J., Fraser S., Lafortune S., and Dumais A. | 2020 | Canada | Evaluate predictors in the decision to use restraint and seclusion (R&S) | Mixed | Standardized questionnaires and explanatory sequential design | (i) The exposure to verbal violence from youths was associated with the increased use of R&S
(ii) Perceived communication and openness were associated with lower rates of R&S use
(iii) Teamwork provided workers with the emotional space needed to focus on the needs of young people |
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| Horwitz M. | 2006 | USA | Examine the relationship between negative workplace events and the effects of trauma on child welfare workers | Quantitative | Questionnaires | (i) The perspective of psychological trauma can be applied to the negative workplace experiences of child welfare workers
(ii) There was an association between negative workplace events, such as client violence, and workplace trauma effects
(iii) Trauma interventions can help these workers maintain optimal effectiveness and well-being in their jobs |
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| Hunt S., Goddard C., Cooper J., Littlechild B., and Wild J. | 2015 | England | Analyse workers’ experiences of supervisory and managerial responses after interactions with hostile parents | Mixed | Online surveys with anonymous data collection | (i) Workers reported that poorly handled parental hostility affected the practice and quality of child protection
(ii) There was a lack of support and supervision for workers |
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| Kim H. and Hopkins K. | 2015 | USA | Examine the association between child welfare, worker safety, and organizational engagement | Quantitative | Online surveys | (i) Frequent exposure to unsafe work environments was associated with lower levels of organizational engagement
(ii) The better the quality of LMX (leader-member exchange), the lower the negative relationship between insecure climate and organizational commitment |
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| Kind N., Eckert A., Steinlin C., Fegert J., and Schmid M. | 2018 | Switzerland | Investigate the impact of clients’ verbal and physical aggression on the risk of developing a high cortisol concentration in the hair | Quantitative | Longitudinal design, hair cortisol surveys, and analysis | (i) The psychophysiological stress responses were associated with combined physical and verbal aggression
(ii) There was emotional exhaustion associated with verbal aggression |
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| Lamothe J., Couvrette A., Lebrun G., Yale G., Roy C., Guay S., and Geoffrion S. | 2018 | Canada | Analyse child protection workers’ experiences with client violence | Qualitative | Interview | (i) Residential workers described a high frequency of violence, especially physical violence
(ii) Child protection workers perceived violence as “part of the job,” while others described client violence as a “call for help” on behalf of clients |
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| Lamothe J., Geoffrion S., and Guay J. | 2021a | Canada | Predict post-traumatic victimization versus violence | Quantitative | Longitudinal design | (i) High rates of psychological distress and customer aggression were common among workers
(ii) Psychological distress predicted subsequent victimization in short but not in the long term |
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| Lamothe J., Geoffrion S., Couvrette A., and Guay S. | 2021b | Canada | Investigate interactions between child protection workers recovering from a recent customer assault experience and their supervisor | Qualitative | Interviews | (i) The organizational context must be reshaped to allow supervisors and employees to handle the consequences of customer aggression more effectively
(ii) It is important to improve “perceived social support,” not just tangible forms of social support |
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| Littlechild B. | 2005a | England and Finland | Examine the effects of user violence against child protection social workers in England and Finland | Qualitative | In-depth interviews | (i) Concerns about the effects of client violence on workers’ capacity were observed
(ii) Maintaining a focus on worker safety by managers was highlighted |
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| Littlechild B. | 2005b | England | Examine the experiences and views of social workers and child protection managers concerning the management of violence against child protection social workers | Mixed | Questionnaires with closed and open questions | (i) Sometimes, the effectiveness of workers can be compromised when they perform their functions of supporting families and protecting children
(ii) The types of agency responses to violence that professionals and managers noted helpful and useless in response to parental threats and aggression were observed |
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| Littlechild B., Hunt S., Goddard C., Cooper J., Raynes B., and Wild J. | 2015 | England | Explore workers’ thoughts and experiences about the effects of parental hostility | Quantitative | Online survey | (i) Workers reported negative effects on their personal/professional lives, sometimes so significant that they had to move or suffered physical injuries
(ii) An often-unrecognized form of aggression was the use of complaints by parents, which aimed to threaten the worker |
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| Øien L. and Greger Lillevik O. | 2014 | Norway | Describe how workers’ personal qualities prevent adolescent violence in childcare institutions | Qualitative | Semistructured interviews and focus groups | (i) It was found that the attitude of helpers was of great importance in avoiding unnecessary confrontations
(ii) Staff looked for the reason behind aggression and being deeply concerned about the well-being of young people tended to alleviate conflicts rather than trigger it |
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| Radey M. and Wilke D. J. | 2018 | USA | Examine client violence against child protective service workers | Quantitative | Longitudinal panel design | (i) Workers experienced high levels of nonphysical violence (75%), threats (37%), and physical violence (2.3%)
(ii) Institutionalized notifying procedures with definitions of nonphysical violence, threats, and physical violence can promote a culture of safety |
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| Radey M., Langenderfer-Magruder L., and Schelbe L | 2020 | USA | Understand Child Protective Service workers’ perceptions of clients’ violence | Qualitative | Longitudinal design with participants’ interviews | (i) Workers experienced physical and nonphysical violence
(ii) Workers who defined screams as violent indicated a greater frequency of violent events
(iii) Workers identified predictable patterns of circumstances and violent people and felt their agencies treated violence as usual |
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| Radey M., Langenderfer-Magruder L., and Wilke D. | 2020 | USA | Understand the characteristics of client violence and how they affect workers’ health | Qualitative | In-depth interviews | (i) Workers experienced two narratives: (1) they reported spontaneous attacks, receiving extensive support and responsiveness from the agency and perceived no health consequences, or (2) they perceived premeditated personal attacks without agency support and experienced psychological suffering |
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| Regehr C., Hemsworth Regher D., Leslie B., Howe P., and Cha S. | 2004 | Canada | Analyse predictors of post-traumatic distress in child welfare workers | Quantitative | Surveys | (i) Critical events in child well-being are encountered by people whose resources seem to be exhausted, as they continually face high levels of challenge and stress, which increases the intensity of traumatic reactions
(ii) The strongest predictor of distress was the organizational environment |
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| Ringstad R | 2009 | USA | Explore the extent and nature of workplace violence in child protective services | Quantitative | Survey | (i) Victimization and perpetration were statistically related
(ii) There were significant differences between groups for victim clients, perpetrator clients, victim workers, and perpetrator workers, depending on the presence of physical violence |
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| Shin J | 2011 | South Korea | Investigate the prevalence of client violence towards child protection workers compared to community service workers | Quantitative | Cross-sectional survey | (i) Child protective services’ workers were more exposed to client violence than community service workers
(ii) Child protection workers showed more serious concerns about violence and needed programs to improve safety |
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| Smith Y., Colletta L., and Bender A. E. | 2017 | USA | Analyse workforce problems related to workers’ exposure to violence in residential treatment centres | Qualitative | Ethnography | (i) Exposure to client violence resulted, at times, in serious physical injury and/or missed work, substance abuse, and anxiety, among others
(ii) Client violence is the hardest part of the job and was cited as a reason for quitting the job |
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