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emotions can become exaggerated in groups. Freire (1970, 1998b) on the
other hand, proposed that oppressed groups would attack each other
verbally or violently, a process he called ―horizontal violence‖. He argued
this was a symptom of feeling powerless.
Taylor (2001) carried out a collaborative action research project with 12
experienced registered nurses working in a large rural Australian Hospital
developing reflective practice skills. They met for 1 hour a week for 16
weeks sharing their stories of experience. The group chose to focus on
dysfunctional nurse-nurse relationships which emerged as a theme from
their stories. Taylor (ibid) argued that bullying or horizontal violence was a
result of oppressed behaviour where colleagues turned against each other
as an adaptive attempt at gaining power in a helpless situation. It was a
multifaceted problem not easily solved. Her group suggested young and
inexperienced nurses were often targets of the victimisation. The
messages learnt involved: ―not to complain‖, ―fearful obedience‖ while also
needing to ―feel invincible and perfect‖ (ibid p.410). Through the cycles of
action and reflection the nurses recognised that power came from
knowledge and they needed to respect colleagues‘ knowledge. Taylor
suggested, professional jealousy, low self esteem, feelings of
responsibility, blaming the past instead of learning from it, needing to
achieve and a manipulative use of power could be at the heart of the
horizontal violence.
Perhaps Taylor‘s study supports the notion that whinging is an aspect of
the field and habitus of nursing not just in the UK but as a consequence of
the work, collegial relationships, power dynamics, ward structures and/or
systems. Gail, a Assistant Head of Nursing responsible for managing
clinical developments, had worked in Canada and the UK. She recognised
inexperienced nurses were often targets for victimisation suggesting
nurses ―devour‖ the less experienced nurses through aggressive
behaviour towards each other. She thought it was more prevalent in
women working together and questioned why women sabotage each
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