Emotional Abuse and Bullying in the Workplace

The issues surrounding workplace bullying go muchThey inflict the same pain to other people who they
deeper than the superficial desire of establishingfeel are inferior to them. It gives them the
control and power over other people. Often its rootssatisfaction of finally being in control instead of the
go way back from early childhood experiences of theone who is abused and shamed.
bully. They may have been inflicted with traumaticGrowing up as a child in an environment where you
emotional abuse that made them overly competitiveare deprived of being validated can leave deep scars.
and constantly seeking to prove their self-worth.These are hard to erase in your memory. Studies
It is only appropriate then to understand the rootrevealed two origins of shame that later cause a
causes of the bully to fully find the means to mendperson to become bullies when put in a position of
the brokenness on these people. They need topower.
understand they don't need to resort to bullying inIn "depriving shame" the person does not feel any
order to establish balance in their lives.support and validation as a child. While growing up
Studies show that most managers abuse for twothey accumulate shame that develops to as sense of
common reasons. One is the normative source andself-worthlessness which they carry with them as
the other is the internal source.they grow older.
Normative source comes from the pressure by otherIn "punishing shame" the person was often severely
managers to abuse and the wrong culture that hascorrected as a child. They get used to being noticed
developed within the workplace. The organization canfor their failures. When they become managers they
be built around a wrong sense of leadership whereinare usually very abusive towards their subordinates.
force and manipulation are condoned to achieve theWe all are very complicated human beings. The list of
desired output. In this case managers will surely haveroot causes is of course much longer than what we
the tendency to show such behavior, simply becausediscussed right now. That's why it's always important
it is commonly practiced.to deal with workplace bullying with sensitivity and
Internal source comes from the past injuries andcompassion as emotions are often times involved in
emotional torment that the bully has experienced asthe issue. People may be bullying without really
a child or in the earlier years of his or her life. Theunderstanding why they do this.
abuse and shame we have suffered in the pastMake sure you take control over the situation.
often manifest all throughout our lives when this isUncover the root cause and get this sorted out. It
not properly healed and dealt with. This is whatwill make your interaction with people who bully much
happened with workplace bullies who use bullying tomore pleasant.
unload the hurts and pains they suffered before.