From workplace violence to work-based violence: Advancing human resource
management scholarship with policy and practical implications
Rationale and Objectives:
Workplace violence has long been recognized as a significant social problem and a focus of regulatory action, organizational intervention, and scholarly enquiry (e.g., Abeyta & Welsh, 2022; Bartram et al., 2024; Chappell & Di Martino, 1998; International Labour Organization, 2022). In the field of human resource management (HRM), this issue has increasingly been framed as a core concern for employee wellbeing, organizational culture, and inclusive work environments (De Cieri et al., 2019; Pariona-Cabrera et al., 2024). The impact of workplace violence may be severe in some incidents and can result in long-term implications for employee mental health, retention, and organizational performance (Pariona-Cabrera et al., 2024).
Workplace violence refers to harmful behaviors—such as bullying, sexual harassment, abuse, and assault—that occur within the physical boundaries of the workplace and are directed toward employees. These harmful behaviors can be inflicted by peers and clients on employees
and from employees on clients and the public. These forms of violence, while serious, are often narrowly defined by location and actor roles and subject to variations in regulation and employer response depending on national, sectoral (public/private sector), organizational and cultural
contexts (Pariona-Cabrera et al., 2024). However, in contemporary work settings, violent behaviors connected to work increasingly extend beyond the physical workplace, occurring in public domains (e.g., during customer service), in virtual or hybrid environments, or within domestic spaces (e.g., when working from home) (Bradbury-Jones & Isham, 2020; Korczynski & Evans, 2013).
Key Themes of the Special Issue:
We seek both theoretical and empirical papers, as well as literature reviews and meta-analyses, including interdisciplinary and intersectoral research that seek to address, but are not limited to, the following list of potential research questions across our key and interconnected themes. We welcome research conducted from different research paradigms and methodologies, as well as disciplinary lenses such as organizational psychology, political economy, sociology, and management, but HR construct, policy and practice should be the core of the study.
Theme 1: Violence related to public sector work
Theme 2: Violence from employees to customers
Theme 3: Working from home and domestic violence
Theme 4: Political tensions and violence at workplaces
Theme 5: Intersectionality and work-based violence
Theme 6: Managing work-based violence in the international context
Theme 7: Role of institutional actors
Submission Window: March 1- April 30, 2026
Submission Process:
Authors can submit papers between March 1 – April 31, 2026 to Human Resource Management for review. Details on the manuscript submission process will be made available nearer to the submission period. Papers should be prepared and submitted according to the journal’s guidelines:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/1099050x/homepage/forauthors.html.
All papers will be subject to the same double-blind peer review process as regular issues of Human Resource Management.
Please contact Fang Lee Cooke fang.cooke@monash.edu if you have any questions about a potential submission.
Guest Editors:
Fang Lee Cooke (Monash University, Australia, fang.cooke@monash.edu)
Zhou Jiang (RMIT University, Australia, joe.jiang@rmit.edu.au)
Shuang Ren (Queen’s University Belfast, UK, s.ren@qub.ac.uk)
Chidozie Umeh (University of York, UK, chidozie.umeh@york.ac.uk)
For more details refer here
