As the dark days in the run-up to Sinterklaas and Christmas begin, the pressure on shop workers traditionally increases. There are more thefts and more incidents involving intimidation, aggression and sometimes violence. “It is distressing. These people perform key roles in society. We all depend on them, yet we cannot guarantee their safety at work,” says Lindegaard, who has been professor of sociology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam since September.
Bodycam footage from the field
How is it possible that the Netherlands has topped the European rankings for aggression towards workers since 2015? And, more importantly, what actually works in practice to reduce this? Lindegaard leads a research consortium that will be studying this intensively over the next seven years. Under the title De-Escalating Aggressive Encounters between Frontline Workers and Citizens, the researchers focus on aggression between citizens and employees in law enforcement, healthcare, public transport and service provision.
For the first time, several major organisations from the field are systematically sharing footage with the research team. “These images allow us to analyse incidents second by second,” says Lindegaard. “We look at questions such as: who does what, do people make eye contact, do they touch each other? Touch has great significance. For example, we see that when someone’s escape route is restricted – in a shop or on public transport – situations are much more likely to escalate.” By mapping these kinds of patterns, the team aims to show which behaviours do in fact help when a situation is in danger of spiralling out of control. This knowledge should give care and service providers concrete tools to prevent aggression in future or to de-escalate it in time.
Video footage as a common thread
Lindegaard has been conducting criminological research for sixteen years. Central to her work is the question of how everyday interactions in public space can escalate into violence, and under which circumstances they do not. The analysis of video footage runs like a common thread through her research.
Although this research project will not officially start for another four weeks, she has already seen the first recordings as part of the preliminary study. “At first I thought: is it really that bad? But now that I have been working on it longer, have shadowed frontline staff myself and have seen what happens, I no longer feel that way. Now I keep thinking: this is bizarre. Why is this happening? And how can we de-escalate it?”
Lindegaard talks about her research in the documentary series Nederland agressieland (The Netherlands: a land of aggression) from the television programme Zembla. The episodes will also be released on YouTube in the coming weeks. You can find further information about this research project on the NWO website.