Anticipating violence in the workplace can be even harder. There is some dispute about whether the office really is a more dangerous place to be than 20 years ago, but workplace mass murders seem to make headlines with alarming frequency. In February, four automotive plant workers in Illinois were shot to death by a former co-worker upset by a jail sentence for stealing from the company. In December, seven software consulting firm staffers in Massachusetts were shot to death by a co-worker distraught over an IRS matter. But researchers working with Stroz Associates in New York think they're creating a formula that, while still inexact, will tip the scales in favor of human resource professionals worried about noticing distress signals before it's too late.
Stresses can be the result of manageable factors.
Normal people can get to the point where . . . Maybe they can be helped. The code is just about ready for real-world testing, Friedberg said. But the methodology for spotting potential violence, he contends, has already proven successful in years of tests. Stroz is working with former CIA psychologist Eric Shaw, who has spent the past 15 years spotting emotional fluctuation patterns in handwritten letters and notes.