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Professional abuse is "a pattern of conduct in which a person abuses, violates, or takes advantage of a victim within the context of the abuser's profession." This typically involves a violation of the relevant professional organization's code of ethics. Organizational ethics or standards of behavior require the maintenance of professional boundaries and the treatment of people with respect and dignity.

Professional abuse involves those working in a facility were patients/clients are abused due to their vulnerability relying on professionals for assistance.

They are taken advantage of because of this leaving them treated unethically. This type of abuse isn’t noticed as much as other abuse because of the trust that these patients think they have for the abuser and the manipulation antics used upon them.

These types of situations tend to happen in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, schools and many more health related facilities. It’s not just limited to these facilities however, It could also take place in offices that deal heavily with patients.

Forms of abuse

There are many forms of abuse. It may be: discriminatory, financial, physical, psychological, and sexual.

Professional abuse always involves: betrayal, exploitation, and violation of professional boundaries.

Professionals can abuse in three ways:

• nonfeasance - ignore and take no indicated action - neglect.
• misfeasance - take inappropriate action or give intentionally incorrect advice.
• malfeasance - hostile, aggressive action taken to injure the client's interests.

Recognising Abuse

A key aspect of professional abuse is the setting in which it takes place. For instance, it is most common in healthcare settings. So, it is vital for clients/ patents to make sure that the care they are being given is adequate and if it appears otherwise, they should attempt to question their healthcare provider of their concerns regarding their treatment. However, those faced with neurological issues such as dementia pose greater challenges as it is unlikely they will have the ability to recognise this abuse taking place. In these circumstances it is the responsibility of family members and/or other professionals most involved with the well being of the individual to ensure they can see that they are getting the correct financial care and healthcare.

Why Professional Abuse Occurs

It can start from childhood, the way in which children are socialised by their parents can have a great effect on the way in which they discipline/ control others. For instance, to regain the dominance once may have lacked during childhood could result in professionals abusing the way they elicit power.

In circumstances whereby the patents/ clients are extremely vulnerable, i.e. they suffer from dementia/ are suffering from other neurological issues. This allows the professional to get away with all three forms of professional abuse, as it is unlikely that any consequences will arise from their abusive actions. For instance, people with dementia are particularly vulnerable to financial abuse. Financial abuse involves the taking or misusing of an individual’s assets or money by a professional in a position of trust.

It could be likely that men are more likely to abuse power, this is due to their competitive nature. Men reach sexual maturity and are conditioned to become competitive, which can translate into the way in which they use authority in professional work.

Professional Abuse and Racism

It may occur subconsciously. Individuals may harbour assumptions about people that reflect the prejudice of their societal norms. People use a subconscious categorisation of individuals, which can lead to various inconsistencies and inequalities in healthcare settings. Healthcare providers may harbour racial biases, and this can increase risk of using stereotypes as short-cuts in caregiving and diagnosis and can be greater influenced by pre-existing factors such as time pressure, high cognitive demand, and resource limitations. There is evidence that physicians hold stereotypes based on patient characteristics regarding race, which may influence their interpretation of patient behaviours and symptoms, and consequently their clinical decisions. Evidence of this is seen through how black women are still four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK.

Misfeasance can be racially motivated. Language barriers are a way in which professionals can exploit those who cannot communicate their ideas – particularly in a setting whereby workers are treating clients in healthcare, as this is made easy to do. Employees in public institutions in countries throughout Europe have observed substantial issues with language barriers that groups of migrants have to face. Employees such as healthcare workers note that they are often unable to understand the languages of these groups, which results in an unequal quality of medical treatment. These language barriers, which could be defined as “performances in which the process of meaning making is both intentionally and unintentionally blocked”, have many consequences. Like, misunderstandings between healthcare workers and patients to poorer compliance with patients, leading to poorer medical treatment and overall dissatisfaction with the way in which they are treated.

Solutions

There are several strategies available to organizations seeking to address professional abuse. A study, for instance, revealed that this problem often arises when there is an extreme power imbalance between the professional and the victim. A framework based on different grades of client empowerment and ways of strengthening it can help solve the problem. Those who have been subjected to professional abuse could also pursue any of the following courses of actions: lodging a complaint; reporting abuse to the police; and, taking legal action. There are also organizations that can help those who are victimized learn more about their rights and the options available to them. A solution towards the racial issues posed can be seen through organisations tackling inequality through discrimination training. Including an emphasis to see through language barriers to ensure that correct treatment of clients/ patents is seen. To solve the issue of vulnerable people facing exploitation due to neurological issues, greater safeguarding should be implemented to ensure that people that don’t have the cognitive ability to recognise unethical treatment don’t face this exploitation. With particular emphasis on ensuring that they are financially secure and not being mistreated in that department.

See also

• Abuse of power
• Institutional abuse
• Medical abuse
• Patient abuse
• Professional conduct
• Professional negligence in English Law
• Professional responsibility

Further reading

Books

• Dorpat Theodore L. Gaslighting, the Double Whammy, Interrogation and Other Methods of Covert Control in Psychotherapy and Analysis (1996) ISBN 9781568218281
• Penfold, P. Susan Sexual Abuse by Health Professionals: A Personal Search for Meaning and Healing (1998) ISBN 9781442679832
• Peterson Marilyn R. At Personal Risk: Boundary Violations in Professional-Client Relationships (1992) ISBN 9780393701388
• Richardson, Sarah and Melanie Cunningham Broken Boundaries - stories of betrayal in relationships of care (2008) ISBN 9780955852008
• Sheehan Michael J. Eliminating professional abuse by managers - Chapter 12 of Bullying: from backyard to boardroom (1996) ISBN 9780393701388

Academic papers

• Blunden, Frances; Nash, Jo (1999). "Tackling abuse of patients and clients - the work of POPAN". The Journal of Adult Protection. 1: 42–46. doi:10.1108/14668203199900009.
• Britton, Ann Hartwell (1988). "Sexual Abuse in the Professional Relationship". Hamline Law Review. 11: 247–80. SSRN 1698822.
• Khele, Suky; Symons, Clare; Wheeler, Sue (2008). "An analysis of complaints to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, 1996–2006". Counselling and Psychotherapy Research. 8 (2): 124. doi:10.1080/14733140802051408.
• Kumar, Shailesh (2000). "Client Empowerment in Psychiatry and the Professional Abuse of Clients: Where Do We Stand?". The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. 30 (1): 61–70. doi:10.2190/AC9N-YTLE-B639-M3P4. PMID 10900561. S2CID 41683201.
• Namore, AH; Floyd, A (Oct 2005). "Teachers taking professional abuse from principals: Practice that's so bad it must violate a school's core values". Education Digest. 71 (2): 44–9.
• Polier, HJ (1975). "Professional abuse of children: Responsibility for the delivery of services". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 45 (3): 357–62. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1975.tb02546.x. PMID 1146968.

References

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