title: [The nature, extent and judicial response to aggression and violence directed against care workers in psychiatry].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Dutch government and the Council for public prosecutions consider aggression against and violence directed against public officers and care workers as unacceptable. But what is the attitude of these official bodies to violence directed against mental health care workers?
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the nature and the prevalence of violence against mental health care professionals and the possible judicial consequences of this violence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dutch mental health professionals who work in the psychiatric hospitals and clinics were asked to fill in an online questionnaire about their experiences, over the past five years, of violence perpetrated by patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 1534 respondents had encountered violence regularly in the course of their work. Some of the violence was of a very serious nature and sometimes had severe consequences. Only a small number of the violent incidents were reported to the police and ultimately brought to court. The victims were poorly informed about the possible judicial consequences of the violence they had encountered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Not only should the mental health institutes counsel and inform the employees who have been victims of violence, they should also promote the development and implementation of an effective prosecution policy.
authors.affiliation: Faculteit der Rechtgeleerheid, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. j.harte@vu.nl
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Harte
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: van Leeuwen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Theuws
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D016272:Occupational Health; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000078329:Workforce; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult