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Moral Violence

In: Private Selves in Public Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Michael A. Diamond
  • Seth Allcorn

Abstract

In this chapter, we inquire into the routine, taken-for-granted, and even banal qualities of organization experienced by members as emotionally abusive. Following Michael Eigen (1996) in his book Psychic Deadness, we refer to emotional abuse in the workplace as moral violence. In this chapter we ask: Is the workplace filled with moral violence? Is it dominated by a culture that is emotionally and psychologically deadening, numbing, or brutal? Are there certain attributes and assumptions linked to these experiences, such as the destruction of reflectivity and learning from experience? Do leaders and followers co-produce the sort of organizational culture in which interpersonal and intra-organizational acts of moral violence are tacitly condoned? What role, if any, does power and hierarchy with its implicit values of dominance and submission play in promoting acts of moral violence? We analyze these issues by using a perspective informed by psychoanalytic object-relations theory (Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983; Ogden, 1989) and to a lesser degree self-psychology (Kohut, 1977, 1984).

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. Diamond & Seth Allcorn, 2009. "Moral Violence," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Private Selves in Public Organizations, chapter 6, pages 109-125, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-62009-4_7
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230620094_7
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