Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, Vol 11(1), Mar 2024, 19-31; doi:10.1037/tam0000202
Workplace violence affects millions within military workplaces every year and has far-reaching implications for productivity and morale. Acts of military workplace violence have spurred recommendations that the U.S. Department of Defense establish threat management units. The threat assessment literature indicates that individuals who commit targeted acts of violence typically engage in preincident behaviors that are observable to others. The decision by observers to report this information to violence prevention authorities is understudied in military samples. In this study, we surveyed U.S. Marines and assessed their willingness to report concerning behavior exhibited by different types of persons of concern (POCs). Findings indicate that service members would report POCs they encountered in the workplace at high rates. However, willingness to report POCs who were close friends or family members was endorsed at lower rates. Low-ranking service members were less likely to report most POCs compared to those of mid and high ranks. Willingness to report POCs from the workplace and POCs who were strangers most strongly discriminated between mid- and high-ranking participants and low-ranking participants. These findings indicate that POC status impacts service members’ decisions to report concerning behavior in hypothetical scenarios and suggest that different reporting mechanisms may be appropriate for service members of different ranks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)