Abuse of power

Abuse of power refers to someone in a position of authority who harasses, bullies, manipulates, punishes or otherwise physically or emotionally harms those in a lower position. The term also applies to someone who uses a position of authority to force others to take actions that are illegal or morally wrong. Abuse of power can occur in many facets of society, including the political arena, the workplace, educational or religious institutions, law enforcement, the military, and within families.

Background

The word “power” comes from the Latin posse, meaning “be able.” It came to English through Anglo-Norman French (the eleventh through early thirteenth century), where it became poeir, with the same meaning. It referred to one’s ability to accomplish something while working with some and against others.

Power plays a key role in how society is organized. Nearly every group of people will naturally evolve into a system where one or more are “in charge” and have the power, which the others are subject to. The earliest groups of humans were likely extended family groups, and the oldest or strongest was likely to become the acknowledged leader. This role might be inherited or won or lost by a contest of strength and/or intelligence.

Monarchies and aristocracies continue the practice of inherited power. Once someone acquires power, often through wealth or military conquest, that person and his or her descendants will hold power for an extended period of time. In these situations, power was most often lost when that person or the area in which he or she ruled lost a military campaign or family lineage failed to produce a suitable heir to inherit the power.

In the past, some societies were patriarchies, where men had preference over women and women were passed over in the line of succession in favor of male heirs. A few were matriarchies, where the line of succession was passed through the family’s female descendants. Societies might also be egalitarian, where power was distributed more on merit or straight inheritance with less concern for gender or other factors.

Ancient scholars and philosophers have long been concerned with the concept of power. Most specifically, they were interested in its unequal distribution and how that impacts society as a whole. Greek historian and military general Thucydides (c. 460 BCE–c. 400 BCE) studied the fifth-century Peloponnesian War, including the circumstances that led up to it, and commented on the role power played. He noted that those with power could act against others at will and disturbances among the leadership in the more powerful Greek city-states had a greater impact on society than similar disturbances in less powerful city-states. Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BCE–322 BCE) also noted that power played a role in the number of leaders a city-state had, with the most powerful having the fewest leaders and greatest concentration of power.

Elected governments such as democracies are seen as a way to prevent the accumulation of power that can unsettle society. The power is more widely held and wielded by the people, who at least theoretically hold the ultimate authority. However, these systems can be manipulated by leaders who become powerful enough to inspire fear or who disregard the rules enough to ignore the people’s authority. In addition, even societies that elect their leaders can have groups who are not given the same level of authority as others. Slavery and gender or property requirements for voting are examples of this.

Other societal factors can contribute to the abuse of power. Situations with great economic inequalities are more likely to see a rise in the abuse of power. Those with less money have less to fight with and may also need to focus all their energy on survival, leaving them unable to resist power abuses. Communities that do not value justice and equality tend to allow policies that weaken some sections of society. Once the segments with the least power are rendered powerless, those with the most power sometimes move to restrict the freedoms and rights of those in the next least powerful group, and so on. Apathy among members of the community may allow those in authority to gain more power until not enough people are left with the ability and will to resist. Historically, this has been a factor in how totalitarian governments and dictatorships have been formed.

Psychological Factors

Psychologists say that there are mental health factors that also play into power abuses. Those who abuse their power tend to score low in feelings of empathy toward others and high in narcissism, or self-love. They value their own needs, wants, and desires above those of others and discount or dismiss the pain that they are inflicting on others. They will often consider their actions as being for the greater good because this fulfills their perception of an ideal.

When people like this gain a following, they can quickly become a dominant power-abusing presence. Some of the worst psychopathic leaders in human history committed atrocities because they gathered a group of people with similar pathological tendencies around them. The death camps of Adolph Hitler (1889–1945), the oppressive governments of China under Mao Zedong (1893–1976), Russia under Joseph Stalin (1878–1953), and the Cambodian genocide committed by Pol Pot (1925–1998) did not happen in isolation. Each of these leaders was supported in his regime by others with a similar lack of empathy and desire for power.

Psychological factors may be at play in those around the abuser as well. In many cases, the victims feel powerless to change. People who abuse power are often wealthy and respected in their community, and the economic and societal imbalance between them and their victim can make it difficult for the victim to fight back. Abuses of power are also facilitated by people who observe the situation and are not morally courageous enough to stand up for those being abused. Their fears and insecurities can play a role in allowing the abuse to grow and continue.

Overview

An abuse of power is any situation in which someone misuses his or her authority to the detriment of someone else. While it is often associated with political leaders, it can happen at any level of society and in situations where two or more people of unequal position are in contact. A boss who threatens to fire an employee unless the employee falsifies an invoice, a religious leader who sexually assaults a child after religious instructions, and a husband who hits his wife and threatens to leave her without any income if she tells anyone are all abusing power.

Abuses of power can be overt or covert. Overt abuses occur in public while covert abuses take place in private. Overt acts require accomplices who make the abuse possible by doing nothing to stop it. A boss who repeatedly ridicules an employee at meetings is committing an overt abuse of power. Such abuse can often be stopped if someone speaks up to the abuser. However, this sometimes does not happen because either the observers identify with those abusing their power and approve of their actions or they fear becoming victims themselves. On the other hand, covert acts happen without observers. There is usually no one other than the victim to put an end to the abuse.

Several types of abuses of power exist. Entire societal groups may be subjected to persecutions, limitations, or restrictions of rights and freedom. In other cases, the threat is an economic one in which people fear the loss of employment or other financial problems if they challenge the person with authority. Power abuses can also be more personal, directed at one individual or a series of individuals one at a time. Those who use their authority to force others into sexual situations often have a series of victims.

In addition to threatening a person’s livelihood or forcing the person into inappropriate sexual situations, some forms of power abuse attack the person socially. Bullying that ostracizes a person from his or her peer group is an example of this. Power abuses can also be verbal, including name-calling and belittling, or emotional, such as mocking the person’s feelings as a means of exerting control over him or her.

Abuses of power can be minimized or eliminated in a number of ways. Governments can be structured in a way that makes it difficult for one person or a group of persons to gain sufficient authority to resort to abuses. Companies and institutions can establish zero-tolerance policies that prohibit abusive behaviors along with systems to facilitate reporting them. Efforts can also be made to identify people with pathologies that lead to abuse and remove them from positions of power. Educational institutions and religious organizations can also strive toward teaching people more about ethics, morality, and character.

Bibliography

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