Understanding and Addressing Lateral Violence in the Workplace

Lateral violence is something that often comes up in my work. I have faced it, experienced it, and have even unknowingly taken part in it before I fully understood what it meant. Lateral violence, a form of peer-to-peer aggression rooted in colonization and systemic oppression, continues to affect workplace dynamics, especially within Indigenous-serving organizations. This blog explores the origins, manifestations, and impacts of lateral violence in the workplace, with a particular focus on how it shows up in Indigenous-led or community-based organizations. Drawing on Indigenous teachings and trauma-informed practices, it proposes strategies to address lateral violence and foster healing, accountability, and cultural safety in professional settings.

Workplace environments are often seen as professional spaces governed by policy, ethics, and productivity. However, underlying tensions, interpersonal conflicts, and unresolved historical trauma can significantly shape how individuals interact with one another. One such dynamic is lateral violence, also known as horizontal violence. This form of harm is especially prevalent in marginalized communities and helping professions, including Indigenous-led organizations (Clark et al., 2021; Taylor, 2017). Recognizing and addressing lateral violence is critical to fostering culturally safe, ethical, and healing-centered work environments.

Understanding Lateral Violence

Lateral violence refers to hostile or undermining behaviors that occur between colleagues or peers, as opposed to hierarchical bullying, which flows from superior to subordinate (National Aboriginal Health Organization [NAHO], 2012). Examples include gossiping, withholding information, passive-aggressive behavior, exclusion, and professional sabotage (Clark et al., 2021). Although these behaviors may appear minor or normalized, their cumulative impact can cause emotional distress, burnout, and organizational dysfunction.

Historical and Structural Roots

The roots of lateral violence lie in colonialism, systemic racism, and intergenerational trauma. These structures created power imbalances and cultural disconnection, leading to internalized oppression and lateral aggression (Freire, 1970; Brave Heart, 2003). For many Indigenous people, the trauma of residential schools, forced assimilation, and the suppression of Indigenous identities has led to cycles of internalized harm that can manifest laterally in community and professional settings (Bombay et al., 2014).

As Duran (2006) explains, “soul wounding” from colonization often expresses itself through lateral harm, where pain that has no safe external outlet is directed inward or toward others within the same community. In workplace contexts, this can mean mistrust, unhealthy competition, or emotional withdrawal among Indigenous peers, even within healing-centered spaces.

Impacts in the Workplace

Lateral violence erodes psychological safety, teamwork, and organizational morale. Within Indigenous-led organizations, it can also distort cultural values of relationality, respect, and collective care (Hart, 2009). Employees experiencing lateral violence may disengage, take leave, or exit the workplace entirely, leading to high turnover and a fractured sense of community.

These behaviors not only harm individuals but also weaken the very mission of organizations grounded in healing and empowerment. For professionals working in trauma-informed or culturally-based services, the contradiction of experiencing internal harm while promoting external healing can be disorienting and ethically challenging (Wexler & Gone, 2012).

Pathways to Healing and Accountability

Healing from lateral violence requires intentional organizational and personal efforts. First, naming the behavior is essential. Often, lateral violence is perpetuated in silence, normalized, or misinterpreted as personality conflict. Recognizing it as a systemic and historical issue shifts the conversation toward accountability and healing (NAHO, 2012).

Secondly, returning to Indigenous cultural teachings can guide healthier ways of relating. Values such as respect, humility, honesty, and relational accountability common across many Indigenous nations can provide a framework for navigating conflict (Hart, 2002; Wilson, 2008).

Creating “brave spaces” rather than just “safe spaces” is another key strategy. Brave spaces allow for uncomfortable truths to be spoken, for harms to be named, and for pathways toward collective healing to be developed (Arao & Clemens, 2013). This involves open communication, restorative practices, trauma-informed training, and anti-oppressive supervision models.

Finally, it is essential to challenge the systemic conditions that perpetuate lateral violence. This includes addressing power imbalances, promoting Indigenous leadership, and ensuring that organizational policies support equity, cultural safety, and holistic wellbeing (Greenwood et al., 2015).

Reclaiming Our Teachings, Restoring Our RelationshipsConclusion

Lateral violence is not simply a workplace issue, it is a reflection of deeper historical and structural wounds. Addressing it requires a commitment to healing, cultural humility, and collective accountability. In Indigenous-led spaces, where the goal is often to reclaim wellness and cultural identity, we must ensure that our workplaces reflect the teachings we aim to pass on. Only then can we break cycles of internalized oppression and build environments that embody the values of healing, inclusion, and community care.

References

Arao, B., & Clemens, K. (2013). From safe spaces to brave spaces: A new way to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections From Social Justice Educators, 135–150.

Bombay, A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2014). The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma. Transcultural Psychiatry, 51(3), 320–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461513503380

Brave Heart, M. Y. H. (2003). The historical trauma response among natives and its relationship with substance abuse: A Lakota illustration. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 35(1), 7–13.

Clark, N., Auger, M., & Desbiens, C. (2021). Lateral violence in Indigenous organizations and communities: Complexities and possibilities for action. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, 12(1), 40–54. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjnser39

Duran, E. (2006). Healing the soul wound: Counseling with American Indians and other Native peoples. Teachers College Press.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.

Greenwood, M., de Leeuw, S., Lindsay, N. M., & Reading, C. (2015). Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada: Beyond the Social. Canadian Scholars’ Press.

Hart, M. A. (2002). Seeking Mino-Pimatisiwin: An Aboriginal approach to helping. Fernwood Publishing.

Hart, M. A. (2009). Anti-colonial Indigenous social work: Reflections on an Aboriginal approach. In S. Hick, H. Fook, & R. Pozzuto (Eds.), Social work: A critical turn (pp. 167–186). Thompson Educational Publishing.

National Aboriginal Health Organization. (2012). Lateral violence in Aboriginal communities: A fact sheet. https://www.naho.ca/documents/fnc/english/2012_LateralViolenceFactSheet.pdf

Taylor, K. (2017). Decolonizing the workplace: Understanding and addressing lateral violence in Indigenous organizations. First Peoples Child & Family Review, 12(2), 45–56.

Wexler, L., & Gone, J. P. (2012). Culturally responsive suicide prevention in Indigenous communities: Unexamined assumptions and new possibilities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 800–806. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300432

Wilson, S. (2008). Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing.