Lateral Violence

Within the Vermont Abenaki community there are many challenges to wellness including high rates of chronic disease, depression, substance use, poverty and trauma. To help us address these challenges, our culture acts as a protective factor. We find strength and pride through participation in our traditional activities, we find health in growing and eating our traditional foods and we find belonging and connection through participation in social gatherings and ceremony. All of these are sources of healing if you are able to participate. Unfortunately, there are many who are unwilling, unable or too fearful to participate as a result of lateral violence.

What is Lateral Violence?

“Lateral violence- also called internalized colonialism or horizontal violence- happens when people who have been oppressed for a long time feel so powerless that rather than fighting back against their oppressor, they unleash their fear, anger, and frustration against their own community members. For Indigenous communities, lateral violence is a part of a larger cycle of hurt that has its roots in colonization, trauma, racism, and discrimination” (Lateral Violence, WeRNative).

What does lateral violence look like?

“Across many studies, lateral violence took various forms, with participants describing both overt and covert behaviors occurring within their communities. Examples of overt lateral violence included murder (Clark et al., 2016); however, most reported lateral violence instances tended to be covert, with 96% of reported lateral violence behaviors being covert in one sample (Clark et al., 2017b). Common actions inflicted and experienced included bullying, gossiping, intimidation, shaming, accusations, enforcing social hierarchies, infighting, and social/cultural exclusion (Bailey, 2020; Bennett, 2014; Clark et al., 2016; Monchalin et al., 2020; Stoor et al., 2019)” (Jaber, et al., 2022).

Depending on your tribal community or ways in which one engages with their community, lateral violence can take on many different forms. It can happen between individuals and even between tribal leadership and individuals. It can happen at work, in school or in the greater community. Below are some of the ways individuals experience lateral violence.

• Intimidation

• Bullying

• Forced removal from the tribe

• Social exclusion (purposefully excluding individuals from gatherings,

  events, programs)

• Nonverbal intimation (raising eyebrows, making faces, eye rolling, setting up

  situations so a person will fail)

• Cyber-bullying

• Physical violence

• Isolation

• Gossiping, Spreading of untruths, Accusations

• Blaming

• Shaming

• Sabotaging (includes undermining working relationships with colleagues, and organizations)

  “Lateral violence can reduce our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. It can drain our self-confidence, motivation, and desire to contribute to our communities. Lateral violence undermines safety and trust, and it can make us feel alone” (Lateral Violence, WeRNative).

Effects of Lateral Violence

“Lateral violence can show up in many different forms, depending on the severity. Individuals affected by lateral violence could experience:

• Sleep disorders - either not being able to sleep or not wanting to get out

  of bed in the morning;

• Changes in eating habits – either eating more or less

  or differently

• Weight loss or gain;

• Moodiness – lack of sleep will usually mean that you won’t

  be all that happy;

• Self-doubt –you question all your decisions and abilities;

• Decreased self-confidence;

• Feelings of worthlessness;

• Forgetfulness;

• Chronic anxiety;

• Depression;

• Emotional and teary eyed;

• Higher absenteeism-not wanting to be at work; and

• Weakening immune system – resulting in greater susceptibility to colds, flu and other illness” (Lateral Violence, ONECA).

“…as lateral violence continues or gets worse the individual may experience more intense physical and emotional health deterioration. Some individuals end up on sick leave or long-term disability. In the extreme, it can end in suicide or violent death” (Lateral Violence, ONECA).

How to Address Lateral Violence

“Lateral violence may be a difficult, controversial, and taboo topic. Research has revealed lateral violence incidents have resulted in being silenced, normalized, and disputed within some Indigenous communities (Clark et al., 2017c). The bystander effect and defensive coping were discussed as potential contributing factors to the complexity of the topic (Clark et al., 2017c). (Mellor (2004) has described defensive coping with racism to include self-protecting and survival responses such as withdrawal, avoidance, cognitive reinterpretation, and denial” (Jaber, et al., 2022).

Finding a way to address and/or cope with lateral violence is not easy. Each individual needs to find what works best for themselves or their family in each situation. If the aggressor is a boss, teacher or tribal leader, it may be detrimental to directly confront them. Below are several possible ways of coping with or addressing lateral violence.

As an individual:

·       Speak with others in similar situation and share advice.

·       Seek support from friends and family or a behavioral health counselor.

·       Speak with an Elder or trusted adult.

·       If you feel safe in doing so, address your concerns with the aggressor(s) and ask them to stop.

·       Keep a record of the negative behaviors.

·       Report the behavior.

As a tribal organization:

·       Admit that lateral violence exists.

·       Establish policy and procedures to address lateral violence.

·       Review actions taken which could have been an act of lateral violence and seek to undo the harm.

As an organization outside the tribal community:

·       Don’t radiate the harm that is already being done by going along with lateral violence when asked to exclude individuals. This is particularly true for healthcare organizations.

·       Refuse to buy into any kind of negative behavior.

·       Let the aggressor know that you will work with and treat all individuals equally.

There is a double edge to lateral violence because beyond the harm done by the aggressor, the individual who is the focus of the violence can be too fearful to participate in their own tribe’s cultural events, gatherings, and programming out of fear of attack. Being disconnected and disenfranchised from your own community and culture which is supposed to be your source of resilience can have a devastating effect on an individual’s physical and mental health particularly for youth and young adults.

Lateral violence is incredibly destructive to tribal communities and it is up to all of us to be aware of it and discourage it in all its forms.

Additional information about Lateral Violence:

Lateral violence in Indigenous Peoples, APA PsycNet

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2021-34630-001

Lateral violence gets us nowhere, Montana Kaimin

https://www.montanakaimin.com/opinion/lateral-violence-gets-us-nowhere/article_cebc85e2-da6e-11e9-b33e-4bcacb8b8af1.html

Lateral Violence, WeRNative

https://www.wernative.org/articles/lateral-violence

Bullying & lateral violence, Creative Spirits

https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/people/bullying-lateral-violence

Aboriginal Lateral Violence

https://www.nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/2011-Aboriginal-Lateral-Violence.pdf

Bullying in Indian Country

https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/ttac-bullying-factsheet-2.pdf

The Cost of Lateral Violence, Native News Online

https://nativenewsonline.net/opinion/the-cost-of-lateral-violence

The Realities of Lateral Violence Within Indian Country

https://ictnews.org/archive/realities-lateral-violence-within-indian-country

Indigenous Women’s Experiences of Lateral Violence: A Systematic Literature Review

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10240644/

Lateral Violence

https://oneca.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lateral-Violence.pdf

From Lateral Violence to Lateral Kindness

https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/FNHA-COVID-19-From-Lateral-Violence-to-Lateral-Kindness.pdf

References:

Bailey K. A. (2020). Indigenous students: Resilient and empowered in the midst of racism and lateral violence. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(6), 1032–1051. 10.1080/01419870.2019.1626015 

Bennett B. (2014). How do light-skinned Aboriginal Australians experience racism? AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 10(2), 180-192. 10.1177/117718011401000207. 

Clark Y., Augoustinos M., Malin M. (2016). Lateral violence within the Aboriginal community of Adelaide: “It affects our identity and wellbeing”. Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing Te Mauri-Pimatisiwin, 1(1), 43-52. https://journalindigenouswellbeing.com/media/2018/07/35.28.Lateral-violence-within-the-Aboriginal-community-in-Adelaide-“It-affects-our-identity-and-wellbeing”.pdf

Clark Y., Augoustinos M., Malin M. (2017. b). Evaluation of the preventing lateral violence workshop in Adelaide, South Australia: Phase one quantitative responses. Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing Te Mauri-Pimatisiwin, 2(3), 54-66. https://journalindigenouswellbeing.com/media/2018/07/86.83.Evaluation-of-the-preventing-lateral-violence-workshop-in-Adelaide-South-Australia-Phase-one-survey-responses.pdf.

Clark Y., Augoustinos M., Malin M. (2017. c). Evaluation of the preventing lateral violence workshop in Adelaide, South Australia: Phase two qualitative aspect. Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing Te Mauri-Pimatisiwin, 2(3), 54-66. https://journalindigenouswellbeing.com/media/2018/07/87.84.Evaluation-of-the-preventing-lateral-violence-workshop-in-Adelaide-South-Australia-Phase-two-qualitative-aspects.pdf

Jabar, L., Stirbys, C., Scott, J., Foong, E., 2022, Indigenous Women’s Experiences of Lateral Violence: A Systemic Literature Review , National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10240644/

Lateral Violence, ONECA, https://oneca.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Lateral-Violence.pdf

Lateral Violence, WeRNative, https://www.wernative.org/articles/lateral-violence