This model describes workplace violence as the interaction of person, situation, and setting. It proposes that workplace violence can be best understood using models of human stress as they apply to individual behavior and organizational functioning. It presents a general theory of violence as a response to unbearable stress. After establishing this theoretical foundation, the paper outlines specific approaches to prevention and response. The approaches are related to those characteristics of the workplace that affect levels of individual helplessness and alienation, of capability for timely signal detection, and of effectiveness in crisis response. The paper covers the role of corporate leadership, conducting a workplace violence risk audit, the uses of a multifunction team, policy development, training, the principles of dangerousness assessment, guidelines for terminations and layoffs, legal issues, and labor relations. Figures, notes