Threats against health care workers, part II: the characteristics of those who makes threats, threats as predictors of violence and effects on the victims

This article considers the literature on threats made by individuals, with particular reference to threats made by patients against health care workers. This is the second of two parts, and concerns the characteristics of those who threaten and the impact of the threats on the victims. It considers threats as predictors of, and part of, the escalating process which leads to further violence.