3. Critically explore the commonalities and differences between the experiences of two of the following groups: people with mental health difficulties and older people

Introduction

Discrimination and oppression are common features that prevent ethnic minorities from achieving professional status within the labour market. Giddens (1993) defines discrimination as an activity which serves to disqualify the members of one grouping from the opportunities available to others,

Discrimination in the negative form is usually illegal. For example discrimination against people as they belong to a particular group, such as the mentally ill, disabled or those who belong to a different race. Discrimination can be direct or indirect. When a person is treated less favourably as a result of their intellect or disability is an example of direct discrimination. Marion (1992) stated that rules or requirements that concern everyone but act in an unfair treatment of certain people are direct discrimination. Discrimination according to Baron and Byrne (2004) is negative behaviours directed towards members of social groups who are the object of prejudice.

Penn and Wykes (2003) identified that there is evidence of less favourable social interactions, discrimination in work opportunities and housing as well as their access to health care. Discrimination is the consequence of lack of knowledge about mentally ill. Opportunities provided to people with mental ill health are diminished as a result of false perceptions that these people are dangerous and lack personal responsibility.

Oppression can be defined as a situation where an individual, group, society, culture or state, have power, be it economic, military or political; and exercise that power to disadvantage, and or overpower those who do not. Oppression means control. It focuses directly on the power relationship that gives an entity the power to discriminate against another.

Structural oppression based on class and race condemns the lives of many ethnic minority groups, Giddens (1993) proposes the decaying environment of inner cities exacerbates the link between race, unemployment and crime.

People with disabilities can also experience oppression when leaving the education system and entering the labour market. For example, access to employment can be restricted as a result of limited qualifications. This is directly linked to people with impairments living on low incomes. Therefore, lack of educational opportunity and contributes to a high number of disabled people experiencing poverty (Swain et al. 2004).

Sexism operates within a system of patriarchy. Patriarchy is one of the structural dimensions of society which is strongly associated with the sexist culture. Weber (1947) had used this concept to describe sexism. He used the term “the law of the father” to refer to the dominance of men within the family. The use of this term however, has been extended to describe the dominance of the males within the employment area and its reflection in the distribution of power. For example in the military forces; technology; universities; science; political and even religious sectors.

Older people are an increasing group of service users that experience discrimination and oppression on all three levels of the PCS analyses described by Thompson (1993). Because of the increasing population of older people there aren’t enough resources and adequate provisions, thus meaning that older people are more vulnerable to bad practice. With the lack of adequately trained professionals in the caring professions older people become more vulnerable. In modern society older people are negatively valued and are very often regarded as past it, they are accused of being a worthless drain on the national economic and social resources. These views can be seen on the three levels described by Thompson (1993). “P refers to the personal or psychological; it is the individual level thoughts, feelings, attitudes and actions. It also refers to practice, individual workers interacting with individual clients, and prejudice, the inflexibility of mind, which stands in the way of fair and non – judgmental practice.

C refers to the cultural level of shared ways of seeing, thinking and doing. It relates to the commonalities, values and patterns of thought and behaviour, an assumed consensus about what is right and what is normal; it produces conformity to social norms, and comic humour acts as a vehicle for transmitting and reinforcing this culture.

S refers to the structural level, the network of social divisions; it relates to the ways in which oppression and discrimination are institutionalised and thus ‘sewn in’ to the fabric of society. It denotes the wider level of social forces, the socio-political dimension of interlocking patterns of power and influence.”

Furthermore, social attitudes towards individuals who have a disability can effect an employer’s decision on rejecting or accepting applications for employment (Roulstone 1988). According to Graham et al (1990) disabled people are less likely to be accepted for a position of employment than someone who is not disabled. This can be linked to negative social attitudes towards disability. These accounts of discrimination and oppression within the labour market are interconnected to the issue of disability and poverty.

People with disabilities can also experience oppression when leaving the education system and entering the labour market. For example, access to employment can be restricted as a result of limited qualifications. This is directly linked to people with impairments living on low incomes. Therefore, lack of educational opportunity and contributes to a high number of disabled people experiencing poverty (Swain et al. 2004).

The media is a powerful and influential institution that shapes the representation of disability. For example, the media has the power to shape societal perceptions and attitudes towards those with impairments. Stereotypical images of disability in the media are based on the medical model of disability. Characters are often portrayed as victims in need of help from charities or medical intervention (Swain et al. 2004).

Peoples with disabilities experienced high levels of social exclusion as factory work replaced agricultural work from the home. Those individuals who were unable to sell their labour for power were marginalized and excluded from mainstream society. It is here that state intervention began with the lives of people with impairments. The opening of workhouses, asylums and special education schools brought social control with the rise of a capitalist society. Foucault (1977) contends that the state is an apparatus used to control individuals in society including the regulation of the body of people with disabilities.

Richard Webb and David Tossell (1999) report the following statements; Women are an oppressed majority. They represent up to 51% of the UK population, yet they do not have the same rights as men nor do they have the same access to resources as men do. Women are less likely to obtain the same sort of jobs as men or positions of power. They earn less than men and are a lot more vulnerable to employment. They tend to be in less prestigious jobs and less secure forms of employment. This is mainly due to the discrimination that women are seen as the main “carer” role of the genders, being seen as the mother and the role to be the homemaker rather than the breadwinner, which is stereotypically seen as the male role.

To conclude, this essay began by giving my understanding of the socially constructed nature of disability as an area of oppression within a historical context. When examining the oppression of disabled people, the institutions and structures I have focused on are the media, education system, employment and social services. I have examined how discrimination manifests itself through society. Thompson (2006) notes how this discrimination is best understood by examining the wider social context that it takes place. This is particularly important for social work when seeking to achieve anti-oppressive practice.