[1] Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other types of aggression.
[2] Some sources describe abuse as "socially constructed", which means there may be more or less recognition of the suffering of a victim at different times and societies.
[5]An abuse of discretion is a failure to take into proper consideration, the facts and laws relating to a particular matter; an arbitrary or unreasonable departure from precedent and settled judicial custom.
For example, Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) prohibits companies in a dominant market position from abusing their power, such as through unfair pricing, limiting production, or refusing to deal with others.
In the Middle Ages, some Church officials demanded money in exchange both for forgiveness of sins and for other rewards such as future salvation.
In the financial world, Insider trading can also be considered a misuse of internal information that gives an unfair advantage in investment.
[12] Academic abuse is a form of workplace bullying which takes place in institutions of higher education, such as colleges and universities.
This includes sexual activity between children that occurs without consent, without equality, or as a result of coercion;[26] particularly when physical force, threats, trickery, or emotional manipulation are used to elicit co-operation.
"[27] Cyberbullying "involves the use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to harm others."
Defamation is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government or nation a negative image.
Abuse of disabled people is not limited to schools; there are many known cases in which disabled people have been abused by staff of a "care institution", such as the case revealed in a BBC Panorama programme on a Castlebeck care home (Winterbourne View) near Bristol, leading to its closure and suspension or firing of staff members.
Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or inflammatory letters (hate mail).
It can be brought about through bullying, intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have committed a socially or legally unacceptable act.
[61] The term has been applied to any tactic, psychological or otherwise, which can be seen as subverting an individual's sense of control over their own thinking, behaviour, emotions or decision making.
Misconduct means a wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts.
Negligence is conduct that is culpable (to blame) because it falls short of what a reasonable person would do to protect another individual from foreseeable risks of harm.
It can manifest itself as learned helplessness, procrastination, stubbornness, resentment, sullenness, or deliberate and repeated failures in accomplishing tasks for which one is (often explicitly) expected to do.
It also means a priori beliefs (without knowledge of the facts) and includes "any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence.
Racism is abusive attitudes or treatment of others based on the belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities.
[77] Religious abuse refers to: Rudeness (also called impudence or effrontery) is the disrespect and failure to behave within the context of a society or a group of people's social laws or etiquette.
It may also to refer to criminal offences or civil wrongs that include conduct which some people consider to be stalking, such as those described in law as "harassment" or similar terms.
[84] In addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, use of some drugs may also lead to criminal penalties, although these vary widely depending on the local jurisdiction.
A taunt is a battle cry, a method in hand-to-hand combat, sarcastic remark, or insult intended to demoralise the recipient, or to anger them and encourage reactionary behaviours without thinking.
Some animals, such as dogs and cats, may recognise this as play; but in humans, teasing can become hurtful and take the form of bullying and abuse.
[102][103][104] Isolation, gaslighting, mind games, lying, disinformation, propaganda, destabilisation, brainwashing and divide and rule are other strategies that are often used.
[112] Some reports on child maltreatment[113] state that mothers use physical discipline on children more often than fathers, while severe injury and sexual abuse are more often perpetrated by men.
Johnson et al.[118] report that, in a survey of female patients (n = 825), 24% suffered emotional abuse, and this group experienced higher rates of gynaecological problems.
In their study of men emotionally abused by a wife/partner (n = 116), Hines and Malley-Morrison[119] report that victims exhibit high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.
A 1998 study of male college students (n = 70) by Simonelli & Ingram[121] found that men who were emotionally abused by their female partners exhibited higher rates of chronic depression than the general population.
Additionally, Goldsmith and Freyd show that these people also tend to exhibit higher than average rates of alexithymia (difficulty identifying and processing their own emotions).