What is Abuse of Authority

The concept abuse of authority, also known as abuse of power, is a very common behavior that occurs in our society . It is an individual or authority who, because of the power they have over others, brags about and uses it to submit them to their designs and, in this way, uses them to obtain benefits.

However, it is worth noting that abuse of authority can occur in various areas such as politics, the work environment and even the intimacy of your home. Therefore, this modality exposed above shows us the authority of the one who makes his power prevail to get what he wants through various forms of coercion in his objectives. Usually threatens or exerts physical violence on others to get what you really want.

More about Abuse of Authority

Power as such is provided at the public level by the state, observing for example the figure of a policeman or a minister, while in the private framework it can be seen in a teacher within private education or in the head of a company, considering the professional position and purchasing power.

Abuse of Authority in the workplace

In the work context, all kinds of conflictive situations can occur. One of them is precisely the abuse of authority. As a general guideline, this circumstance occurs when a boss adopts a disrespectful or directly illegal attitude towards his subordinates.

In a company there is normally a hierarchical order that must be respected for the correct functioning of the activity. In this context, circumstances may arise in which an individual with a certain amount of power tries to impose his will in an abusive way. Some examples that illustrate this reality are the following: the boss who sexually harasses a worker, the person in charge who gives orders in a despotic manner, the superior who forces workers to carry out activities that are not part of their duties or any imposition that goes against labor law.

Although these circumstances may constitute a crime, it is not easy for the affected person to present evidence about their situation.

Examples of situations in education

In the school context, bullying among students is relatively frequent. However, in this context there is no abuse of authority in the strict sense (the harasser and the harassed are on the same level). In the school there is abuse of authority when a teacher adopts a role that exceeds its educational or training functions.

Teachers who take advantage of their power to abuse their students often resort to different strategies: verbal and psychological humiliation, despotic attitudes, emotional blackmail or sexual harassment. These behaviors are exceptional and, in fact, when they occur they are considered scandalous.

Excesses of authority in the army and in the police

In the military, the hierarchical order is strictly respected and, therefore, the order of a superior must be obeyed and fulfilled without any hesitation. Although this circumstance is part of the essence of the army, there is a danger that a soldier may behave with a disrespectful approach towards his subordinates. For this reason, military criminal law contemplates the crime of abuse of authority.

A typical example in this regard occurs when a manager treats a subordinate in a humiliating or degrading manner. As is logical, sexual harassment or physical punishment are equally forms of abuse of authority.

In the media, cases of police officers who, taking advantage of their position of power, behave abusively appear with some frequency. This behavior is especially worrying, since members of the police forces have been trained to treat citizens respectfully and within the framework of the law.

Why is this threat focused on minorities?

Minorities are those groups that, due to their race, belief, gender or class, have a smaller number of members compared to other social groups, and may be affected more significantly, finding themselves at a disadvantage. Being considered groups of “lesser influence”, they are more easily manipulated, since they themselves believe that they do not have rights, either because they are in a country other than their own or because they are not members of the masses.

These people are discriminated against in the social and labor area, denying them rights inherent to all people, which is aggravated by the despotism of the authorities, who denigrate, humiliate and injure them for, in their little understanding, they do not deserve to be or belong. to society, in the same conditions that the majority develops.

However, from the psychological point of view, these abuses manifest the psychological or mental problems of those who commit them, since their actions reflect low self-esteem, little empathy and poor performance in relations with society. Likewise, they reflect in these people, whom they can abuse protected in their domain, the same “deviations or aberrations” that they confer on their victims.

What rights or public-private legal assets are abused by the abuse of Authority?

Undoubtedly, in a society where money, influence and power are of great importance, the way is paved for abuse of power to be present on a day-to-day basis. Many times, the established world order is managed behind the scenes or the threads of decisions that affect a large number of people are manipulated for the well-being of a few.