Violence in the workplace: Theoretical considerations

Abstract

In this theoretical article, the objective is to analyze the differences and possible conceptual overlaps regarding typologies of violence at work, which are increasingly subtle. The critical reflection on the work of Hershcovis (2011) instigated us to think about the differences between the typologies of violence, aiming at their understanding from models that approach a more complex and realistic view of social interactions (Andersson & Pearson, 1999; Cortina, Kabat-Farr, Magley, & Nelson, 2017; Leymann, 1996; Vasconcelos, 2015). The main results are the identification of two potential risks to the understanding of the theme: (a) the agglutination of concepts, which harms theoretical advances and specific treatments at work; and (b) the isolation of types in silos, which contributes to the loss of progressions that reached other domains. Still, it postulates the need to glimpse the different typologies of violence in a continuum according to the social context.