Dying on the Job

Murder and Mayhem in the American Workplace

By (author) Ronald D. Brown

Publication date:

13 December 2012

Length of book:

340 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442218437

Dying on the Job is the first book on workplace violence to focus exclusively on workplace murder. While some perpetrators are certainly mentally impaired, many workplace murders are committed by people considered to be “normal.” Brown explores the various motives and drives that spark workplace murder, and answers hundreds of questions that are usually asked only after a workplace murder rampage has already occurred. Are men or women more likely to commit workplace homicide? How can people more easily spot those likely to commit workplace murder? What are some of the warning signs? How often is "suicide" used as workplace revenge? The answers to these questions and more are based on more than 350 actual cases of workplace murder, and the answers are often surprising. Brown also addresses different areas of prevention, counseling, and rehabilitation, and analyzes different approaches to gun control for both management and employees to make their job a safer place to work.

Introduction

1. Murder in the Workplace: Nature, Scope, and Origins
2. Why So Little is Known About the Problem
3. Definitely Not Your Average Girl Next Door
4. The Limits of the Human Resources Function
5. Some Were Crazy, Some Not So Crazy
6. The Influence of Gender & Race
7. The Problems and Politics of Being the “Boss”
8. Debunking the Myths / Confirming the Facts
9. Deciphering the “Language” of Workplace Suicide
10. The Warning Signs: the Tick, Tick, Tick of the Bomb
11. Ironies Trends, and Troublesome Facts
12. Employer Response, Responsibility and Resolve
13. Guidelines for Workplace Safety, Security, and Control
14. Conclusion

Endnotes
Appendix
Selected Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Author

A unique exploration of the growing epidemic of murder at work. Ronald Brown has crafted a highly readable and fascinating look at this unfathomable and shocking phenomenon. Written with historical perspective, statistics, factual accounts of numerous events and detailed analysis the reader gains not only insight into the genesis of the problem, but a better understanding of the underlying fears that often drive these assailants. While debunking the myths about workplace homicide and exposing the futility of some preventative policies and procedures, in the end Brown provides important preventative rules and recommendations that can make a difference. Timely and useful, this book is a must read for CEOs and their staff, HR executives, middle managers, safety and security professionals and anyone concerned about this abhorrent problem sweeping the nation.