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Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Need some advice on work place abuse (2/21/2013 5:35:33 PM)
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When I lived in a level 14 group home, and other group homes i lived in, the kids could be as abusive as they wanted to the staff, they could hit them, they could throw things at them, they could bite them, they could injury the staff, and short of grounding the kid, or putting them in a room in time out away from every one and everything, there wasn't anything the staff could do.
Sure if you lashed out and were violent enough they could talk to your social worker and possibly get you placed somewhere else, like a lock down facility where you could be strapped to the bed and bars on the windows.
But you are probably a different kind of program , than a group home was.
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ORIGINAL: erieangel
Many of you know that I work residential for a mental health agency. And some of you might remember that I have complained in the past to my supervisor about being verbally abused by my clients. Last summer one young man was evicted from the program for such behavior. Two days ago a young man not only verbally abused but he was punching his fist into a table directly in front in a manner that literally made me scared me for my own safety. I phoned my boss but he said he could not talk; I left work 10 minutes later. My boss did not address the behavior with the young man until the next morning. When talking to my boss yesterday prior to my shift, I was told that the young man was going to apologize to me. While it was an apology I had no intention of accepting because the language he used has become habitual, it did not come. Today, we had a "house meeting" and I gave the young every opportunity to take some responsibility for what he had done and said the other day. Instead, he said that he'd noticed that lately I'm always telling them when to "clean their rooms, when and how to load the dishwasher and do their chores...blah, blah, blah..." Basically, he was complaining about me doing my job.
Anyway, I think I jettisoned my job by telling my boss, who was at the meeting, that I couldn't work in such an abusive environment. I told him that the surroundings have become too abusive for me. That I not only feel uncomfortable, but afraid for my safety, because if somebody is going to punch a table three feet from where I am sitting, it wouldn't be long before that person takes a swing at me. I told him I need to be transferred out of that position immediately. And then I walked out. The more I've thought about it, the more I've come to the conclusion that by expecting me to work in that abusive environment, my supervisor is not only condoning such abuse, but he is also abusing me.
My boss called a couple hours after I left and told me that the young man in question was apologetic about his behavior after I'd left. But he doesn't respect me enough to take responsibility to my face and I told my boss that is a big part of the problem--he doesn't respect women. Most of the guys don't. My boss also said he doesn't know how soon he can get a transfer, or if he can get me transfer, because the agency is undergoing a lot of structural and administrative changes right now--hence the reason I think I may have jettisoned my job. And then there is the issue that I don't really want a transfer. I really do love what I am doing. And why should I have to leave my job because one kid with his head up his ass decides he has a right to be abusive without suffering any consequences--like eviction from the program? Evidently, my boss isn't prepared to evict this particular young man at this time.
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ecause one kid with his head up his ass decides he has a right to be abusive without suffering any con
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