Discrimination And Empowerment Mental Health Social Work Essay

dissimilarity And Em rolement intellectual Health accessible Work EssayThis show allow firstly arrange what dissimilarity is and what it means to discriminate. Examples will be utilise to demonstrate what dissimilarity may look like. A definition of empowerment will as well as be ingestiond. The essay will then critically research theory and ideas most power and how power manifests amidst sorts. This part of the essay will touch on the idea of otherwiseing. The essay will move on to focus on affable wellness, race and racism. The essay will use the idea that psychotic persongenic unhealthiness is a friendly construct and look at how rational illness send a counseling be generate to functions of racism from society (Bailey 2004). The essay will repair links to institutional racism in mental wellness and psychopathology.In a basic champion to discriminate means to differentiate or to recognise a distinction (Oxford Dictionaries 2012). In this basic disposi tion it is a part of daily life to discriminate. For congresswoman, a baby will often discriminate between a stranger and their cargongiver. Discrimination becomes a problem when the difference or recognised distinction is utilize for the basis of unfair treatment or exclusion (Thompson 2012). Anti-discriminatory practice in amicable cypher c oncerns itself with discrimination that has negative outcomes whether this is negative discrimination or positive discrimination. Both are equally as damage.Thompson (1998) defines discrimination as a wait on where respective(prenominal)s are divided into particular friendly groups with an un evening distri merelyion of power, resources, opportunities and even rights. Discrimination is non always intentional (Thompson 2009) and thither are various types of discrimination (EHRC 2012). Discrimination seat be direct, indirect, based on perception or on association (EHRC 2012). The Equality Act 2010 is edict that protects individuals and groups against discrimination. The Equality Act 2010 brought together several components of legislation to protect several protected characteristics age, disability, gender reassignment, sum and civil partnership, race, religion or view, sex and sexual orientation. Discrimination does non just occur on a personal train, according to Thompson (2012), discrimination occurs on three levels personal, ethnic and structure. This will be lookd more(prenominal) freshr on. empowerment is a term that often comes in to play when examining discrimination at that placefore it is big to seduce an understanding of both. Empowerment is the cogency of individuals or groups to trail control of their circumstance and use their power to help themselves and others to maximise the quality of their lives (Adams 2008 xvi). Empowerment is then non an absence of discrimination and power but an individuals capacity to own or share that power and take control. Therefore empowerment is an anti- demolishive practice not an anti-discriminatory one. They are linked but not the same. brotherly shiters act as mediators between supporter users and the democracy. societal workers are in a role that can potentially empower or oppress (Thompson 1997). For this origin Thompson (1997 11) argues that good practice must be anti-discriminatory practice, no matter how high the standards of practice are in other respects (Thompson 2012). Thompson (1997) reminds the reader many an(prenominal) times throughout his book that If youre not part of the root you are part of the problem. I choose to include this because it reinforces that social workers need to repugn discrimination and take action against it. Discrimination is political, socio tenacious and psychological (Thompson 2012). To accept and tolerate it and to not to contend it does indeed claim social workers part of the problem. Discrimination has links with power which the essay will move on to justify next.As defined by t he Oxford Dictionary (2012) power is the ability or capacity to do something the capacity or ability to act in a particular way to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events or physical strength or force exerted by someone. From this commentary power could be look atn as a coercive force or authoritarian. However, some theorists would argue that in that respect is more to power than just coercion and authority. Parsons (1969 cited Rogers 2008) took a different view on power. He byword power as a way of maintaining social order instead of a force for individual gain (Rogers 2008).Parsons (1969 cited Rogers 2008) believed that to be able to enforce coercive action and justify it, there of necessity to be a collective interest from the social system as a whole (Rogers 2008). Lukes (1974) would disagree with Parsons definition on power. Lukes argues that power is less abstract (Rogers 2008) and that exercising power is the decision to exert control. Lukes (1 97474) illustrates this point as A exercises power oer B when A effects B in a sort contrary to Bs interests. Dominelli (2008) focuses more on the idea of competing power which group has more power than the other. This splits bulk to both be in the rife group or the minority. A dominant group tends to be deemed superior, and with superiority comes privilege (Dominelli 2008). As a result the other group is deemed inferior, the minority and disadvantaged. It is this compound of mandate and conquering that discrimination derives from (Rogers 2008). It is a groups perceived superiorly over another group (Thompson 2012) that justifies coercive action, control and discrimination.When mess manakin oppressive comparisonships the tendency is to make a strategic decision that excludes a particular group or individuals from accessing power and resources (Dominelli 2002). Othering can be insured as multiple multiple burdensomeness. People can be othered simultaneously due to a number of social divisions (Domenelli 2002), for example, being a b leave out cleaning lady who experiences mental wellness issues.Social workers need to recognise power and its links to discrimination. Not to could further oppress (Thompson 2012). It can feel uncomfortable to be in the privileged position whether this is as a unclouded person or a man and so on. The privileged group need to engage in the fight for equality (Corneau and Stergiopoulos 2012). White people need to engage with the fight against racism and accept answerableness for racism as it is a problem of face cloth society and therefore involves vacuous people (Strawbridge cited Corneau and Stergiopoulos 2012). This explanation can be applied to any other groups that are considered to be the other.Rogers and Pilgrim (2006 15) suggest that superiority is a social construction a product of human activity. Dominelli (2002) goes further to say that oppression itself is a social construct as oppressive relations are not pre-determined but they are reproduced between social fundamental interactions and routines. Language is often used as a key part of social interaction and is also a very powerful tool. This relates heavily to social work as social workers are responsible for writing reports/care plans/assessments. Depending on how social workers word written pieces of work can indeed cay a very different picture of the service user they are working with. I was once told that words are the bullets of prejudice, this illustrates that labels and language can be powerful, damaging, potentially discriminatory and oppressive.Although labels can be damaging they are a part of social interaction. Labels help us to construct our social world and we use them to find similarities and differences to offset the world around us (Moncrieffe and Eyben 2007). Although the process of labelling is fundamental to human behaviour and interaction (Moncrieffe and Eyben 200719) social workers need to be aware of when t hese labels have the potential to be damaging, oppressive and rein forcers of discrimination. Social workers need to reflect and consider what labels they give people and what impacts this may have. Labels can be used to heighten or sustain power relations which can have an impact on prejudice and on achieving equality (Moncrieffe and Eyben 2007).This essay will use the themes discussed so outlying(prenominal) to focus in on mental health as an area of practice and critically explore institutionalised racism within mental health practice and abnormal psychology. To begin I will briefly return to Thompsons (2012) PCS analysis in relation to mental health and race. The P level is our own individual attitudes and feelings (Thompson 2012). Although it is important to examine our own beliefs we do not live in a moral and political vacuum (Coppock and Dunn 2010 8). For this reason Thompson (2012) also refers to the cultural (C) and structural (S). P is embedded in C and C and P in S wh ich builds up interlocking layers of discrimination personal, cultural and structural.The C level is where we learn our norms and values. Individuals learn these values and norms through the process of socialisation which occurs through social institutions such as the family, religion and the media (Haralambos and Holborn 2008). These institutions can produce ideas about(predicate) what is considered frequent or right (Coppock and Dunn 2010). From this it is not surprising that there is an attitude in society that people who experience mental health issues are violent and a danger to society even though there is no relationship between mental health and violence (Rogers and Pilgrim 2006). However, the general media uses terms like psycho (Ward 2012) or crazed gunman (Perrie 2011) in relation to acts of violence creates prejudice. This prejudice can then be used to discriminate. For example, a community may not want a mental home to open near them as the mental people will cause a threat to their community.The S level is the level of institutional oppression and discrimination. Ideas that Thompson (2012 34) refers to as being sewn in to the fabric of society. Western psychiatry is laden with cultural values and assumptions that are based on western culture (Coppock and Dunn 2010). This suggests that western and white is normality and anything that deviates from this is abnormal (Corneau and Stergiopoulos 2012), or as previously discussed other. It is the C and S level which the essay will focus on more.Institutional racism explains how institutional structures, systems and the process embedded in society and structures that advertize racial inequality (Jones 1997). It is considered to be the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin (MacPherson 1999). Jones (cited Marlow and Loveday 2000 30) goes further than this definition to also include laws, custom s, and practices which consistently reflect and produce racial inequalities. Institutional racism is believed to be a more subtle and secrecy type of racism (Bhui 2002) and often said to be unintentional (Griffith et al 2007).BME groups are differently delineated in psychiatry (Sashidharan 2001). People of African-Caribbean heritage are over represented yet people of Asian heritage underrepresented in mental health scopes (Sashidharan 2001). As BME groups deviate from the white norms they appear to set about either too much attention or too little (Sashidharan 2001). This would suggest that the systems which operate within psychiatry are institutionally anti-Semite(a).Both race and mental illness are social constructs (Thompson 1997 Bailey 2004). Thompson (1997) argues that despite the lack in biological evidence for the explanation of racial categories it is still a widely common way of thinking. Bailey (2004) argues that mental illness has always been a social construct there fore open to racism and other forms of discrimination. The declassification of homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) illustrates Baileys (2004) point.Race immediately brings up issues around power and the relationship between what is seen as natural and social (Westwood 2002). Historically it was viewed that inequalities around race had a natural explanation (Westwood 2002). Race could be traced back to anthological tradition (Rogers 2006 Craig et al 2012) and colonial discourse with the belief that white identity is superior (Westwood 2002) and that black people are lacking civilisation, savages and a subhuman species (Bailey 2004 408-409). check to Bailey (2004 408) the effects of racism on psychiatry can be directly linked to the early stereotypes about black people arising from pseudoscientific racism. It is this pseudoscience racism (science which lacks scientific method or evidence) that underpins racism in mental health run today ( Bailey 2004).Racism has many different sides and is a multidimensional form of oppression and discrimination (Corneau and Stergiopoulos 2012 Thompson 2012). Racism is widely known to be the cause of disparities in health and mental health (McKenzie in Bhui 2002 Griffith et al 2007 Craig et al 2012). BME individuals find themselves navigating their way through a system that works from the dominant discourse of the medical object lesson (Corneau and Stergiopoulos 2012). This allows a small amount of room for different and alternative frameworks to challenge racism which is already inwrought in the system.To illustrate this point I will use an example from my practice. I work with a black woman who experiences mental health issues. She has spiritual beliefs and usually openly takes about her beliefs at home. She fears one resident as he is very religious and she feels that he has excess powers. I supported her to an appointment with her psychiatrist as she had begun to feel mentally unwell. He did not necessitate about any social, cultural or structural factors that may impact on her mental health. I tried to advocate the experiences she had shared with me and reiterated what she was saying. However, he advised her that the tugging she experienced in her stomach was physical and to see a doctor and increased her anti-psychotic medication. Her spiritual experiences were not validated, he individualised the cause of her illness and used a medical intervention.Western psychiatry tends to separate the mind from the body and spirit (Bailey 2004). According to Bailey (2004) many BME service users find this approach unhelpful and irrelevant to their experiences of mental distress. This is because for many BME the mind, body and spirit work in union and the feelings and behaviours behind this is woven into peoples wider existence (Bailey 2004). Kortmann (2010) believes that these types of clinical intervention are often unproductive due to service users non-western origin and tend to quit treatments earlier. For example, some African cultures can believe that seizures are cause by evil spirits (Kortmann 2010) and therefore do not take medication decreed as they do not believe it to be an illness.Westwood (2002) writes that the negative impact of racism can have a significant impact on an individuals mental health. However in a recent piece of research Ayalon and gum (2011) concluded that black older adults experienced the highest amount of discriminatory events but there was a weaker association with this and experiences of mental health issues. To ac come for this it was concluded that BME groups experienced more events of discrimination over their life course and as a result have become more resilient to it (Ayalon and Gum 2011).Some writers argue that to construct institutional racism as the explanation to the disparities in mental health can add to the debate and effectively alienate BME groups even further (Singh and Burns 2006). Singh and Burn (2006) state that, the accusation of racism within psychiatry will give service users the expectation that they will receive a poorer service and this will encourage service users to disengage with services or offer willing admission. What Singh and Burn (2006) are speculating is presented by Livingstone (2012) as self-stigma the stigma that is present on an individual level quite an than on a cultural or social. It is the stigma that is internalised that can prevent people from access services (Livingstone 2012) and thus, actively discriminating against ones self. Therefore, Singh and Burns (2006) argue that individuals to stay away from needed services until it is too late and there are few alternatives but to detain them and enforce treatment.Although Singh and Burn (2006) make a logical point they fail to recognise BME service user experiences of Mental Health Services. Bowl (2007) conducted a soft research to gain the views and experiences of South Asian service use rs as most literature is through the lens system of academics and professionals. The experiences of this South Asian group would certainly suggest the presence of institutional racism within Mental health Services. The main areas identified were their dissatisfaction in not being understood in the assessment process due to language barriers and cultural incompetence (Bowl 2007). This misunderstanding led to misdiagnosis and refusal of services (Bowl 2007).Racism is often not the only form of oppression that people face. Disadvantage can occur from several areas (Marlow and Loveday 2000). BME groups experiencing mental health issues are already subjected to multiple oppression. There is not enough words in this essay to explore this further but wanted to acknowledge that forms of oppression are not experienced in isolation of each other. For example, links have been made between individuals lower socio-economic status and experience of mental health issues and how black people can face the added stress of earning less and experiencing higher levels of unemployment (Chakraborty and McKenzie 2002). This begins to illustrate the complexity and how oppression is inextricably intertwined.Institutional racism has been highlight in a number of Inquiries in practice. It was firstly highlighted in the Stephen Lawrence Report in 1999 a black young person who was murdered in a racist attack and yet again in the David Bennett Inquiry in 2003 a black man who died in 1998 after being restrained faced down by several nurses for nearly half an hour. professional Laming (2003) also identified issues around racism in his Inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie. There is not enough words to go into any of these inquiries in any detail but they have been include to demonstrate institutional racism in practice in the police, mental health service and social work.It may seem that whilst mental health services operate within the medical model that is catered towards the white m ajority things will not change. Institutions and systems are indeed difficult to change, however social workers can work with service users to empower, advocate, challenge and expose discrimination in services and bring about social change.Empowerment is complex in general but becomes more complex in relation to race and ethnicity (Thompson 2007). Social workers need to firstly be aware of institutional racism before they are able to challenge it (Thompson 2007). For social workers to challenge institutional racism they need to challenge policies that do not address the needs of BME groups. To do this, social workers need to be aware of the complex power relations and deeply ingrained racist patterns in society (Thompson 2007).In my practice in a mental health setting I have contact with medical professionals and often support services users to appointments. I find that I must hold onto my social work values and not get drawn into the medical model way of working but to remain holis tic in my approach.To conclude, this essay has demonstrated that discrimination is far more complex than treating someone differently. It has focused on a more subtle, covert and indirect form of discrimination institutional racism. The essay has examined the links between discrimination, racism and power and introduced the idea that mental illness and race are both social constructs. It is this subtle and covert form of discrimination that can be damaging. It can be hard to recognise as it is woven into the very fabric of society (Thompson 2012). However, the subject matter in this essay is that social workers need to recognise power relations, how they operate, on what level they operate at and to challenge discrimination (anti-discriminatory practice) and work with service user to empower them to overcome these obstacles (anti-oppressive practice). Social workers must swim against the tide and not collude with these attitudes no matter how deeply ingrained and embedded they are in society. For the social workers that fail to do so will ultimately become part of the problem.Word count 3281