Recent events have brought renewed concern about incidents of workplace violence.

Last summer the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, all published a report on fatal and non-fatal violence in and away from the workplace. According to the study, an average of 1.3 million non-fatal violent workplace victimizations occurred annually. Approximately half were committed by people the victims knew. Further, in 2019, 454 people lost their lives as a result of workplace violence.

These reports galvinized a push to identify a single cause for the violence and demands for a solution, whether it be gun control or addressing mental health.

As one who has studied conflict, I would point out a cause and possible course of action for at least some of this violence. Conflict theorists have long made it clear disagreements are inevitable in organizations, whether minor or major.

Conflict theorists have long pointed out when fair and accessible means of dealing with issues, such as ombuds offices, union grievance procedures, and affordable legal remedies don’t exist, people express their emotion and frustration in nonproductive ways. Modern managers know they must provide ways for disagreements to be addressed productively. Non-productive ways range from doing only what is required of the job, taking office supplies home, rumors and gossip, damaging equipment, verbal and physical fights, and even the use of firearms to threaten and harm others.

One constructive management practice is to endorse and participate in workplace mediation. When employees know management will mediate workplace conflicts, employees are less likely to engage in non-productive expression since they're aware there's an opportunity to be heard. If instead the employee feels there's no such option, potential workplace danger increases.

It seems that almost any conflict can get out of hand.

In El Paso County, Colorado, a simple disagreement over ownership of a strip of land used as a road has garnered national attention as the conflict escalated.

The disagreement between adjoining property owners Teresa Clark and ranchers Courtney and Nicole Mallery has grown to more than 20 dueling restraining orders, accusations of racism, several arrests, and charges of biased policing against the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Over a two-year period the Sheriff’s Office has investigated more than 170 calls regarding the dispute.

The ranchers Courtney and Nicole Mallery allege that Clark has made online threats, poisoned their animals, and disabled their security system. Clark alleged that the Mallerys stalked and threatened her making her afraid for her life. The Mallerys were arrested for felony charges of stalking Clark who was arrested as well for violating a restraining order requiring her to stay at least 100 yards from the Mallerys’ property.

As the disagreement grew, charges of racism were made by the Mallarys, a Black ranching family, claiming they were not being allowed to work their land in peace in a predominantly white community. Addiitonally, they labeled one of the Sheriff’s deputies as Clark’s “personal policeman.” These charges motivated a march to the state capitol building advocating for legislation to make it a crime to file fraudulent, racially motivated police complaints. In response to allegations of racially biased policing, the Sheriff’s Office released 96 body cam videos containing 38 hours of footage.

This all started as a simple dispute over a roadway easement and when disagreements like this escalate, parties tend to gravitate towards aggressive and violent tactics and view one another as evil. Others can be drawn into the situation as well and objectives evolve from resolution to revenge and even violence.

Can mediation be used in escalated conflicts? Yes, but it is difficult. That is why I and others advocate “Preventive Mediation,” that is, encouraging parties to enter into mediation before things get out of hand.

In El Paso County, the parties eventually agreed to try mediation. If the parties don’t reach an agreement, their criminal trials will proceed later this year.