Recently in the news we heard the creator of the Dilbert comic strip reference the conditions of black neighborhoods, and by extension people, as dangerous and "unable to be helped", urging white people to get away.
These comments, and the following debates on different platforms made me think about physical violence and psychological violence- which is worse? Are Black Americans labelled most dangerous based on questionable statistics on murders and petty crime? Are we too entrenched in the societal system to see how this very system, not developed by Black Americans, unleashes psychological violence onto all of us on a daily basis- the psychological violence that is the root cause of much of the crime we see in Black American communities? The psychological violence present in the assertion that Black Americans are violent because 49% had a problem with whiteness is mind boggling- talk about gaslighting and flipping the script.
When we typically think about a violent person, we may picture someone "big and scary" with hateful eyes and a disposition toward evil and harm. However, a much more insidious violence happens to us every day- and that is this psychological violence. The type of violence that comes from kind words and smiling faces, from backhanded compliments and policies meant to destroy our communities, and from greedy power structures taking advantage of the empathy and desperation of others.
This type of violence doesn't have the same immediate impacts as a violent physical attack (per se), yet because it is often undetectable by the victims, it wreaks havoc on our psyches long term, like a slow dose of mental and emotional poison.
This newsletter typically focuses on opportunities to change organizations for the better, however I think this topic applies both on an organizational level, but also on a broader, societal level. The stress, the dread, the lack of motivation many of us can face in the workplace are ways our bodies are alerting us to the psychological attacks we may not be consciously aware are happening to us daily at work. People are subjected to workplace mobbing, bullying, marginalization, and other psychological violence, which in my opinion is far worse, and has far greater implications- mainly because we don't acknowledge its existence.
Perpetrators of psychological violence keep victims in the dark, with gaslighting and other techniques to keep them thinking the problems stem from any other source, other than the perpetrator. This perpetual confusion is the driving force behind the stress and other social and emotional impacts of this type of violence, which is why building awareness and education is a great first step in combating its existence and maintaining your sanity in the process.
This is a conversation I would love to see mainstream, to draw more awareness. Until then, we can bring awareness to our own organizations or social circles by talking about what psychological violence looks like at work:
Microaggressions
Groups of people working together to ostracize and push someone out of a role or organization
Assigning bad projects or busy work to someone not socially accepted
Dismissing someone's presence
Practices that underhandedly disadvantage an individual or group of people
Smear campaigns/ lying about someone or a group of people to create a negative perception of them (which damages their relationships and opportunities)
Passive-aggressive communications and manipulation
Underhandedly controlling access to opportunities and resources
Have you, your family, or teams had conversations around psychological violence? Are there policies or procedures in place where you work to protect employees from this type of violence?
Next week's article will dive a little more into how psychological violence shows up in the workplace and provide some methods around maintaining your mental and emotional health in those types of environments.
Hi! I'm Nicole, an organizational consultant and personal coach, who is passionate about inspiring the changes our society needs for all to thrive. Using lessons learned from my own experiences and challenges, I hope to help people within organizations by creating mentally, socially, and emotionally healthy workplaces for all. Check out the other resources on this site for more ways to do just that!
Commentaires