Exercise 1:
Thompson (2012) describes discrimination as a process which a difference is identified and used a basis of unfair treatment, from this a person/group suffers detriment. He also defines oppression as the outcome of this unfair treatment from discrimination. Oppression is a negative and demeaning way of exercising one’s power. These discriminations and oppressions come from a range of sources and within society there are seven main forms of discrimination and oppression these are sexism, heterosexism, religious, disablism, class, ageism and racism. The five chosen forms of discrimination/oppression that will be discussed are sexism, heterosexism, disablism, class and racism.
The HCPC (2012) Standards of Proficiency states in requirement 6.1 professionals must be able to work with other to promote social justice, equality and inclusion and also in 6.2 professionals must be able to use practice to challenge and address the impact of discrimination, disadvantage and oppression. As it is required by professionals such as social workers to engage in anti-discriminatory practice it is important to recognise the seven forms of discrimination and acknowledge how to engage with service users so they do not discriminate based on the nine protected characteristics.
Disablism refers to the combination of social forces, cultural values and personal prejudices which marginalizes disabled people, portrays them in a negative light and thus oppresses them (Thompson 2012). Disablism is deeply imbedded within society as it is can be caused simply by the model that is used to assess disability and impairment, this is the medical model- this almost views the disabled adult/child as being faulty and needing to be repaired. There is now a relatively new model which is the social model which views disability as being created by the way in which the social world are unsuited to the needs of different individuals (2012, Oliver et al). Although this model is preferred and should be used there are some professionals who still work from the medical model and also service users who have already experienced the medical model and once the damage of oppression and discrimination has been experienced by a service user it can then be difficult for it to be undone.
To further illustrate the point that although disablism is relatively new to social work practice and theory it is very much so strife within society and can be analysed by using Thompson’s PCS analysis. Upon a personal level those considered able within society may shy away from those with an impairment or disability due to disgust, or there is the polar opposite whereby an individual may over compensate for that service user’s impairment/disability and continuously offer help and support despite the service user being capable. On a slightly wider scale in society there is the cultural level which disablism can operate and this entails the deeply imbedded values regarding disability in that 1700 hate crimes towards disability were reported within a year in England and Wales. This reflects that as a society those with a disability are discriminated against and this can be verbal or physical but it cannot be denied that is does not exist. Furthermore, on a structural level as Thompson discusses the ‘general public’ are catered for in that they can access buildings with ease, go to catch a bus or taxi without any issues whereas those with a disability are marginalised in that they cannot. Not every building caters for a group in society that doesn’t meet the ‘normality’ within society and that simply highlights the sheer ignorance that disabled people exist let alone that society empowers disabled people.
Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics, as suggested by the Anti-Defamation League. This is evidenced by in the 1970s when ‘black mugging’ was portrayed by the media to be a growing threat to the general public. Society, primarily the media, created this moral panic based upon these negative stereotypes that they held about young, black men and they were completely unfounded views to hold. Stuart Hall et al investigated this ‘black mugging’ and found that there had been no increase in actual muggings where the perpetrator was a young black male, the only increase was the media’s reporting of these crimes. This could be viewed as racism on a structural level in relation to the PCS model as the media is one of the largest institutions within society now and fundamental to the structure it’s influence is great. Within this institution it portrayed the negative imagery for this group, blatantly discriminating against those who were a part of this group and further oppressing an ethnic minority group. Continuing from this, on a cultural level it is highly likely that the views of the media became a part of the culture of the white British in the 1970s due to internalizing what the media portrayed. With the culture being racist people within that culture reflected those views also, therefore racism also operating on a personal level. This is not only in relation to those who weren’t a part of the discriminated group but also within that group it can be very easy to internalize these discriminatory views about a part of your identity and reflect those within your actions.
Discrimination based upon class status is when someone is discriminated against purely on their class; working class, middle class or upper class. More often it is aimed towards the working class and recently suggested underclass, when this occurs this classes are disadvantaged further. Although class is one of the nine protected characteristics there is no law against prohibiting discrimination on the ground of social class, in the Equality Act 2010 s.1 it does refer to reduce the inequalities of outcome which result from socio-economic disadvantage. In comparison to the other protected characteristics where it is boldly stating that discrimination cannot occur on grounds of race, sexuality, gender, etc. this section of the Equality Act is very much so open to interpretation and therefore can be argued that within society it isn’t regarded as much as source of oppression and discrimination as others. Class discrimination is a prime example of multiple oppression whereby an individual/group have more than one characteristic in their identity that is described as being less powerful in society. Class is closely linked with ethnicity in many cases as seen in figures from Department Work and Pensions (2010), around 40% of people from ethnic minorities live in low-income households, compared to approximately 20% people of white ethnicity. In terms of discrimination against class status it is clear that there may also be other discriminations in action when working with a service user so addressing the identity as a whole is important to not only address the ethnicity for example if referring to figures from DWP but also acknowledge the class of that individual. Although there is no specific legislation it can be very easy to discriminate and oppress on the basis of socio-economic status.
Sexism is described as a deep-rooted, often unconscious systems of belief, attitudes and institutions in which distinctions between people’s intrinsic worth are made on the grounds of their sex and sexual roles (Bullock and Stallybrass 1977).
Evidence such as domestic violence rates- approximately 4.6 million women experience domestic violence in England and Wales, suggest that women are primarily the disadvantaged sex in society and that men are the main perpetrators of sexism. This form of sexism is categorized within personal sexism, however it can occur on a much greater scale within institutions. An example of this is the gender pay gap, women in work can be paid up to 15% less than their male counterpart, and this evidence suggests that sexism occurs in the work place.
A theoretical perspective which recognises the need for gender equality is feminism, this theory looks primarily at women’s subordination to men in society (Collins dictionary for social work 2002). There are five main traditions within feminism that share the common goal of empowering women in a patriarchal society but they differ in their approach and focus. The tradition that reflects social work practice is the socialist feminism, this is because it is inclusive of all women and focuses on equality across all areas and recognises that there can be multiple sources of oppression and aims to empower through every diverse characteristic. This is related to anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice, in regards to promoting anti-sexist practice it is vital that the professional understands where sexism is sourced within society and address their own views of gender roles, women’s position in society and even the basic language that the professional may use when working with a female service user. Focussing on the power of language as Thompson (2012) explains language is can be a source of discrimination and contribute to the maintenance and although language is never neutral professionals should try due to sheer power of it. Language used by professionals can severely discriminate and oppress a woman further than they may already experience. It can be phrases such as “So, where is your husband?”- This can be interpreted as the social worker is ignorant to that individual’s identity of perhaps a single woman. In a society where the social norm is to be married a single woman may already feel marginalised without that further perpetuated by the social worker. To conclude anti-sexist practice, as Thompson (2012) suggests it is practice that challenges dominant discriminatory attitudes, values, practices and structures.
Heterosexism, according to Bywater (2007) refers to the promotion of heterosexuality as the only normal, acceptable and natural way of life, closely related to this is homophobia which as Thompson (2012) explains is the intolerance/fear/hatred that some heterosexuals have of lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Further related to this is transphobia and this is the same as homophobia but instead of being directed to lesbian, gay and bisexual people it is directed to transgender people. Within society heterosexism has been an ongoing part of society for centuries and it has only been in recent years where other sexualities are even contemplated as being a part of society let alone being generally accepted. This can pose many issues for a social worker- whether this be that the service user is struggling with their sexuality or that you as a social worker struggle with a service user’s sexuality. In order to practice in an anti-heterosexist the most basic and common principle is to be accepting of the diversity within service user’s identities, this can be difficult as some cultures that social workers come from do not accept sexualities that aren’t heterosexual particularly in relation to religion. Some religions can hold very negative views towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people, for example it is often interpreted as a sin to lie with someone of the same sex in Christianity. However, as professionals it is vital that these personal views do require to become more accepting in order to not discriminate against service users. Sexuality is something very personal to service users and it can show a high level of respect for that service user if you as a professional enquire what they prefer to be referred to as when it comes to sexual orientation within documents, not every homosexual man wants to be called gay and it is the role of the social worker to ensure that the individual views of the service user are listened to in order not to discriminate. As statistics show 1 in 6 LGBT people are victims of hate crime, therefore for anti-heterosexist practice to take place social workers need to familiarise themselves with the vulnerability that can accompany someone in this specific community. Heterosexism similar to class discrimination in that it is often accompanied by other forms of oppression as sexuality is not the only aspect of an identity. Linked with gender, a lesbian woman may feel oppressed both by heterosexist practice and society but also sexist practice and society- it may be closely connected in that a woman’s lesbian relationship is not viewed the same as perhaps a heterosexual couple or a homosexual male couple. Within legislation there had been no outlaw of lesbian relationships only homosexual male relationships, which was then starting to change in 1967 with the Sexual Offences Act and this law only referred to gay males. Therefore, it is essential to fully assess the service user’s identity to create a wider picture of the aspects that make up the individual as opposed to just focussing on one part when there are other factors that may empower the individual but at the same time they may be experiencing multiple oppression. To conclude, anti-heterosexist practice entails learning and acknowledging the diversity and empowering that service user to feel as comfortable a possible with their sexual identity.
To conclude, there are a variety of sources of discrimination and oppressions within society and although many are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 this does not mean individuals and groups are not being discriminated against. As professionals there is duty to coincide with the legislation to both practice in anti-discriminatory manner and also challenge the discriminations that affect the service users encountered through practice. This is reinforced by Baker et al as they state “All human beings have equal worth and importance, and are therefore equally worthy of concern and respect” (2004, p.23).
Words: 2196
Exercise 2:
I am a 19 year old white heterosexual working-class female who identifies as an agnostic with a catholic background.
Following the teaching of the nine characteristics I’ve learned how much contributes to my identity, I have limited myself to three basic things when asked about my identity and that’s been a mother, student and feminist. This is because my family, career and female oppression are the most important things to me but when looking at my identity as a whole it really opened my eyes how much I can be identified by, for example my race, religion, class, etc. However, I also really dislike how I can be categorised by nine impersonal characteristics. By this I mean you read the first sentence of this assignment and it could be a million other people and I think that is a main source of discrimination as you don’t know the person just simple things about that person/group and stereotypes can be made from them. When looking into my position in society I found that using Giddens (2006) theory of stratification really highlighted the inequalities that I have experienced and may do so in the future, this is because according to this theory there are structure inequalities between difference groups in society. Within society there is apparently a strata- a hierarchy where the more powerful groups are at the top and the less powerful are at the bottom. More powerful groups can be considered as white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual and upper/middle class whereas the less powerful groups are black, female, working class, old, disabled and lesbian/gay/bisexual. If I were to place my identity in the hierarchy I would be viewed at the bottom of the hierarchy and throughout the learning in the module I can identify with this through my own experience of discrimination which I previously did not see.
The three service users I have chosen to discuss and explain how I would engage in anti-discriminatory practice with are all male, this is because as a female and feminist I do have prejudices against the male gender and I need to recognise this and ensure I do not feel personally attacked if they were to speak in a sexist way or even make assumptions about the service users based on their male gender.
Service user one is a black male who is 21 years old and identifies as gay, therefore when working with him I would need to engage in anti-racist and anti-heterosexist practice. To do this I would not stereotype this individual based on those aspects of his identity and be mindful of the language used, for example if I were to complete an assessment I would ask this service user how he prefers to identify his sexuality whether that be gay/homosexual or another term as not everyone identifies as the umbrella term ‘gay’. I would not make any assumptions about his nationality based on him being black, I would ask and wait for the reply rather than jumping to conclusions.
Service user two is an Asian male who is Sikh and 80 years old. This service user is debating moving into a residential home since his wife passed away recently and he has concerns over whether he would still be able to attend Gurdwara on a weekly basis as he has always done. When assessing this service user I would take his religious beliefs into account and aim to help find him a residential home where they can accommodate this for him, this is because individual’s spirituality, religion and beliefs can be very important to their well-being and to ignore his wishes for this is to ignore his religious identity which would lead to discriminatory practice. To engage in anti-ageist practice with this service user it is vital I do not make any assumptions about his physical or mental ability based upon the fact he is 80 years old, during the assessment I would ask relevant questions to assess this individual rather than assuming certain characteristics, e.g. he can’t get around because his 80 years old, but instead discuss his physical capability. Anti-racist practice also needs to be a part of working with this service user, this can be achieved in a multitude of ways such as ensuring he is included in his assessment and his views are heard and acknowledged. I suggest these due to as an Asian male he is likely to have experienced discrimination and oppression within society therefore it is very important that the assessment process doesn’t mirror that and by being inclusive it should not.
Service user three is a physically disabled male aged 35 years old, the practice which is needed when providing services to this individual are anti-disablism. Preferably when working with this individual we would focus on the social model of disability so to assess what within this service user’s life is attributing to the disability rather than just viewing the disability as his problem. By doing this we can empower the service user, examples of how is within his home see how it could be further adapted so he is able to have control within his home, we could also widen the scale and assess what local amenities are available to an individual who requires a wheelchair so we can ensure he is well integrated into the community as this can be quite important for a sense of belonging which unfortunately due to disablism within society this doesn’t occur often.
To conclude, when working with service user’s different to myself I need to acknowledge how my identity can impact on the individual and ensure I address my own prejudices so they do not impact on the service I am trying to provide to the service user. Anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice is paramount within social work due to it is highly unlikely you will work with a service user who is not vulnerable in some way and also not been discriminated against due to an aspect of their identity.
Words: 999
Reference List
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