The authors studied the incidence of violence in a psychiatric unit
organized as a therapeutic community whose nursing staff was composed
entirely of women in comparison with another unit staffed according to the
traditional male and female nursing pattern. The unit staffed by women had
no incidents of other-directed violence in the one-year period of the
study, but the traditionally staffed unit had 13 violent incidents
initiated by 5 patients. The authors state that the expectation of violence
among psychiatric patients and the consequent use of male nursing aides to
control violence may represent a self- fulfilling prophecy.Abstract Teaser