Horizontal Violence

The Nature of Horizontal Violence in the Work Environment

Introduction

There is a behavioral phenomenon in the workplace common in environments of high stress which has been termed horizontal violence . Essentially it is the sabotage or harassment among members of what has been called an oppressed group that has its origins from a position of low morale or self-esteem . Horizontal violence is defined as part of inter-group conflict in which hostility of one person or a group towards another person or group identified as an oppressed group . It is manifested in an

br environment where a more powerful or dominant group consciously or subconsciously engages in emotionally damaging behavior towards a less influential or weaker group . As a result , members of the oppressed group react by becoming hostile with one another because the oppressed feel the need to lash out and are incapable of dealing with the oppressor directly (Hastie , 2007

Horizontal violence , also referred to as horizontal hostility has been observed primarily in a predominantly female workforce with male dominant cultures , such s hospitals and education institutions . While horizontal violence can occur in ethnic minorities and other minority groups , this will focus on gender-specific situations where horizontal violence occurs . It will investigate the theories explaining the phenomenon and how those in the nursing profession have sought to deal with the behavior

The Theories behind Horizontal Violence

Inequality is a construct of oppression based on the perception of control , of who has it , who wields it so significant effect , and who accepts being subjected to it . It is interactive and those who recognize oppression may or may not choose to accept it . Oppression , inequality and discrimination are based on shared beliefs and the enforcement of concepts that makes these attributes a reality . The constraint of the hierarchy of control exists only in sufferance by those to whom it is applied . The idea of patriarchal dominance has gained social ascendancy because it has been accepted as the norm by both genders . Feminists seek to shift blame on men who are socially conditioned to be dominant and fail to realize that subscription by the majority of women to gender roles is also largely responsible for feeding this destructive social stereotype (Hunter

Oppression is maltreatment of a person or group by another person or group based on the target 's membership in a group . Such behavior is considered contrary to human nature and it is thus considered a constraint on interaction which the culture of the society in which it self-perpetuates consents to its presence as part of their reality There is an interpretation of relationships that is made by an individual or group of individuals which determines how control should be distributed among the social groups . In most instances , oppression limits the interaction of both the oppressed and oppressor because society dictates certain behavior and attitudes

Social Dominance Orientation (SDO ) is defined as the perceived power of one group of people over another group of people based on societal precepts . The groups...