Dehumanizing Others and Other Forms of Verbal Abuse

Dehumanization is the act of rendering a human being as less than human. After a person has been dehumanized, he/she is seen as no different than an object. Then, he/she can be treated as an object. Name calling, gender slurs and racial slurs are common signs that a person dehumanizes other people. This behavior is prevalent among those who act out violently.

Disregard for Policies and Procedures

Violent individuals often behave as though the rules do not apply to them. It is not uncommon to see those with the highest propensity for violence abuse an organization’s leave policy, regularly show up late for work, take overly long breaks or show insubordination to supervisors.

Low Tolerance for Change

Imagine your organization issued a new — and very unpopular — policy. The majority of your employees express a little irritation. But one employee fumes for hours after the notice goes out. This behavior is commonly seen in violent individuals. Their reaction to events is often seen as an overreaction. They have a tendency to throw tantrums, might slam doors, throw things and clench their hands and teeth.

Poor Peer Relationships

The loner is often associated with an increased risk for violence. But how do you define “loner”? What is it that makes a loner more violent? A loner is not a shy or reserved individual. Shyness or a quiet personality does not, in and of itself, indicate an increased risk of violence. The loner behaves as though he/she believes that he/she is better or smarter than his/her peers. Very often, the loner will refuse to work on a team project, instead insisting to work on his/her own. This person rarely expresses any interest in participating in office luncheons or in any social gathering.

A person who displays poor peer relationships often shows poor reality testing: their sense of what’s real and what’s not real can be warped or skewed. Because they push everyone out of their lives, there is no one to challenge the loner’s perceptions.

Fascination with Weapons

People who act out violently often demonstrate a fascination or unusual preoccupation with weapons. This fascination is often demonstrated by the incessant discussion of weapons and/or the damage that said weapons can cause. People who are fascinated with weapons often present as insecure. They are often perceived as people who are uncomfortable using words to express themselves.

Blaming Others

A person who perpetrates severe violence often exhibits an unwillingness or inability to take responsibility for his/her actions. This individual often expresses a belief that others want to hurt him or her. Violent people often believe that they are being picked on. The violent person may blame others as a way to rationalize his/her inappropriate behavior.

Threatening Language and Behavior

All threats of violence must be taken seriously. Studies suggest that many individuals who go on to commit very violent acts tell us exactly what their plan is before they act on it. Their threats are often minimized or not taken seriously. What is the significance of a threat? Very often, the most violent people in our society display little or no impulse control — the ability to reconsider, control or manage an urge and evaluate the consequences of acting on an urge.

Threats often represent a person’s unfiltered mental processes. Threats of bodily harm are the greatest concern with respect to workplace violence. Often, these are verbal threats, but they can also include menacing looks or physical gestures. In contrast, threats to use the system in an appropriate manner, such as “I’m going to report you to HR,” do not cause problems and are not associated with an increased risk for violence.

Bullying

Increasingly, the literature demonstrates a relationship between ‘bullying’ and violence. Bullying has been defined as ... the repeated infliction of intentional, malicious, and abusive conduct which interferes with a person’s ability to do his/her work and is substantial enough to cause physical and/or psychological harm and a reasonable person would find hostile or offensive ...

Many researchers refer to bullying as the younger sibling to violence. They note that an environment where bullying takes place is often the type of environment that is penetrated by actual physical violence.

The troubling behavior can include hazing, and severe forms of teasing. Bullying, which almost always involves overly aggressive verbal behavior, is often accompanied by physical posturing, especially amongst men. This physical posturing can include:

• Puffing — the swelling of the chest and shoulders to make oneself look more menacing
• Chest Bumping — actually bumping another employee physically to goad them into a fight
• Pointing fingers close to another person’s face

Fighting

It’s not unusual to see fighting minimized, but fighting is serious business. There is no such thing as a little pushing and shoving. When adults are willing to fight, they are telling us that they believe in taking matters into their own hands.

People who fight are often very concerned with their image. The fighting may be a result of believing that they have been disrespected. If the violent person loses the fight, the fight is probably not over for that person. He/she may feel the need to save face, and this is often done by escalating to the use of weapons.

A violent person may issue an invitation to fight: “Let’s step outside, and I’ll show you what I mean.” Even if the person being challenged is smart enough to decline, the invitation still represents violent behavior. Self defense is an exception. If you are under physical attack and fleeing is not possible, defending yourself is not considered violent behavior.