Nelger Carrera / Roundup, Jose Romero / Roundup
Joseph Dadourian, a psychologist who is specialized in workplace stress management and trauma, discussed on-campus violence in the Great Hall Thursday.
Deans and faculty attended the lecture, which taught them how to recognize violence warnings and how to prevent and intervene when an act of violence occurs.
“Violence is about awareness, because people do not know the other person’s background and value system,” said Dadourian.
It was said that bullying, teasing, video games and love related relationship were the main and most common causes of violence.
Alcohol and addictive drugs also exacerbate acts of violence in the workplace. Companies looking to combat and manage threat and violence risks in the workplace could enlist the services of risk management firms to help identify, assess and manage threats.
A video clip screened at the lecture noted that people are protected from the government on the 1st Amendment, but not from other citizens.
For example, people are not free to say things like, “I’m going to kill you!”
The lecture talked about how to identify acts and warnings of violence, going on the say that silence or ignorance are also forms of violence.
Sheriff’s Deputy Ron Nohles also made an appearance at the lecture, going over basic safety tips like never leaving anything of value in your car and treating every threat with equal importance.
“If you have a title, it does mean people are going to treat you with respect.” said Dadourian during the lecture.
The lecture covered acts of violence in the workplace and also disruptive, threatening violent behaviors.
Faculty members present at the event were most concerned with outdated phone records that would prevent the Sheriffs from knowing who to rush to in case of an emergency.
Deputy Nohles assured the audience that the Sheriff’s Department is ready for any emergencies.
“In case of a real emergency, I can have 30 squad cars out there in 15 minutes,” said Nohles. “Please only say ‘man with a gun’ if and only if there is a man with a gun.”
It was also mentioned in the lecture that places with the most acts of violence are often hospitals and medical clinics.
Anger was a main sign of an act of violence and the most visual.
Anger translates into angry gestures, and the volume and tone of the voice are indicators of a threat.
It was said some common warnings before physical acts of violence are silence or ignoring someone.