Work Abuse: How to Recognize and Survive It

Millions of people hate their jobs. They may think the problem is stress or burn-out, but for most of these people, the true problem is an abusive work environment: one that disempowers people and destroys self-esteem. Work abuse is the dehumanizing of people through patterned ways of interacting at work. This includes systematic denial that the abuse is happening, as most abusive managers consider such poisonous treatment to be "the way the world works." Work abuse can affect a whole organization, or it can be focused on one individual scapegoat. What's worse, our society as a whole tends to reinforce this attitude, placing the blame on the traumatized victim. When the abuse cannot be redressed at work, it often reappears at home as addiction or family violence. Intended for individual workers and their families, therapists who help them, and managers and union leaders responsible for work systems, this book explains how and why work abuse happens and offers a practical plan for healing, including in-depth case studies, exercises, and worksheets to guide the reader.