DEFUSE DISRUPTIVE COWORKERS

 PART III

What do we know this far about my “D.E.F.U.S.E.” acronym in relationship to defusing disruptive subjects who are spiraling toward violence?  (See my last several posts for more specifics)

Don’t lose your cool; Depersonalize; Deflect and Depreciate the verbal icon.

Encourage the Subject to vent and Ego suspension.

Now, let’s complete the DEFUSE formula.

Find Out the Facts.  Incorporated within the “F” component are several principles or strategies.  Allow me to amplify.

• Clear your mind of all assumptions and/or prejudices about the subject.  Don’t rush into a confrontation loaded for bear because of what you might assume or think because of your feelings about the worker, or because of his/her past actions.  Make your mind like clear water (mizu no kikoro).  As I said in my last post, when you roil the “waters” with emotions, you can not see to the bottom of the lake.  The flip side of that coin is, of course, clearing yourself of emotions (prejudices, assumptions, etc) allows you to see clear to the bottom of the problem.
• Change the person’s mental focus.  Asking questions is an art, an art that can change the mental channel of the aggressor.  I have seen an artful question actually stop an emotionally disturbed patient dead in his tracks.  In order to answer a question the person must stop, think, maybe even turn inward to try to come up with an answer, even a dishonest answer.  I really don’t care what the answer is when I ask a question in a confrontational skirmish.  I just want the attacker to stop for a second; I just want to cause a chasm between his brain and his body.  By splitting his or her focus, in effect, you are weakening his capability of carrying out an attack.
• To Learn Crucial Facts.  Just that.  Ask questions of not only the worker, but others on the scene.  “What exactly happened?”  Why did it happen?”  Are there any weapons?”

Understand Feelings.  You don’t have to agree with what the worker must be feeling, but it is very important that you demonstrate that you understand.  Show empathy and you cross the aggresive worker’s experiences and feelings and take a big step toward de-escalating him or her.

Slow Everything Down and Suggest Solutions.  I think the crucial principle you should take from this component is not to rush into any confrontation.  By slowing things down you allow yourself time to think, which effectively allows your Neo Cortex, or Intelligent Brain, to help you resolve the crisis.  When we speed things up our brain perceives it hasn’t the time to analyze and evaluate the problem, resulting in our Primitive Brain taking over.  Never a good thing in a sensitive and explosive scenario.  Slow down how you walk, your speech, your movements.  If I could identify one factor that has caused the death or injury of many officers it would be trying to speed up or rush his tactics.

End on a Positive Note. 

Until next time, Stay Safe.

Hammer

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 9:42 am and is filed under Action Against Violence Home Page, School Violence, Strategies and Tactics, Violence Prevention, Workplace Violence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.