Warning Signs of Violence: Continual Excuses, Concentration Problems, Cruelty to Animals, & Disciplinary issues
Written by Robert D. Sollars
- Continual Excuses
Usually, when you think of continual excuses from someone, it’s usually from a toddler, child, or teenager. While those groups may be the most prevalent, it also goes for individuals who may consider committing violence inside the organization.
Every time that an individual is caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing, they will probably deny it or at the very least make an excuse for why. Unfortunately, far too many people ignore the excuses of someone who has an issue. They can’t solve it until the individual explodes in violence, then they themselves deny and make excuses.
Continual Excuses go both ways. It happens to both employees as well as supervisory/managerial staff. And in either event, it’s not a good thing. It really doesn’t matter whether the excuse is I forgot or they’re off duty. If excuses are becoming common, then it is raising a problem that needs to be addressed.
An example of supervisory excuses is that a friend of mine was at work and waiting for her relief to show up and she had another friend of mine carpooling with her. The 2nd friend went outside to wait until the other was off duty. While the friend was sitting outside, the supervisor came by and told the 1st friend that ‘Didn’t anyone tell you that your relief isn’t here and is running an hour late?
After a few minutes, the supervisor walks out and see’s the 2nd friend sitting there. She tells the employee that she’s sorry about it and continues, they lived 2 blocks from each other… no ride was forthcoming, nor an offer, or the fact that the supervisor was on her way home…nowhere else.
- Concentration Problems
It’s not just the normal lack of sleep, that millennials seem to have in abundance, but more of a lack of focus in what they are doing. These individuals could be walking into walls or doors more often or “falling up the stairs”. In any event, they are distracted, unfocused, and can’t seem to concentrate on anything of significance. It could be a romantic break-up, family or professional stress, or they could be contemplating another way out of an issue that has been bothering them for weeks, months, even years…or maybe just a few minutes. Unfortunately that new solution may be violence, whether inside the organization, shopping mall, or somewhere else.
- Cruelty to Animals
Do you really think this is only for younger kids and teenagers? You need to think again about that assumption. Being cruel to small animals, no matter what they are, wild or pet, hunting rather than cruelty, is a sure sign that trouble could be percolating in their brains. If it’s actually percolating, then an explosion may be imminent.
Jeffrey Dahmer was pulled over for a traffic stop one day. The cop didn’t think anything of a smell. Turns out that Dahmer had the bodies of dozens of pets and other animals in his trunk that he was transporting back to his home to do whatever with them.
Many people who are bent on violence will test themselves on small animals before turning their attention to the larger ones… humans. It’s a lot like rape in some respects…not the killing or sex but the control it gives them over another.
- Disciplinary issues
Do you have someone within your organization that is a magnet for disciplinary issues? Maybe, they are consistently getting into trouble with law enforcement/security/or another authority figure. While this is not, like all these signs, a definitive sign that something may be wrong, it needs to be watched over. There are many reasons why people break the rules and disciplinary issues seem to follow them everywhere.
They may not like rules very well and do what they can on a continual basis to break them in any form they can. I’ve known a lot of people like this in my career & life, including myself, and none of us have ever done anything remotely violent.
They may be unconventional and want to do things their way, and if they do, they are usually the kind that get it done, albeit not the traditional way…Steve Jobs. On the other hand, they may be testing the limits of what they can get away with to see how far they can push people. You can check out my books and discover a whole lot more: Murder in the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Prevention or Murder at Work: A Practical Guide for Prevention
www.sollarsviolenceprevention.com Twitter: RobertSollars2 e-mail: robert@sollarsviolenceprevention.com
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