In his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire (1970), evaluates the concepts of dehumanizations and how it relates to oppression. According to Freire (1970), the act of dehumanization is a distortion that justifies demonizing people making them seem less than human. Freire argues that: Dehumanization, which marks not only those whose humanity has been stolen but also (though in a different way) those who have stolen it is a distortion of the vocation of becoming more fully human...” (Freire 1970).
Dehumanization is not a new concept, in fact, it has happened throughout history. This distortion of what it means to be human eventually leads to oppression. Freire (1970), goes on to say that people …show more content…
However, things these two things are vastly different as humanization in itself is the struggle to be recognized as a human while dehumanization is the attempt to discredit one's human qualities and villainize them. Even though, dehumanization affects both the oppressor and the oppressed, oppressed take the lead in the fight for humanity for both.
Social service agencies work to prevent the dehumanization of clients. However, this is not always possible as agency policies and procedures made themselves create subtle acts of dehumanization towards the clients. At Counseling in Schools (CIS), the agency has two particular policies that I believe adds to the dehumanization of students. The teacher referral process creates a system that labels students with behavioral issues. In fact, these students are often labeled as troubled, mental or difficult.
According to Counseling in Schools, their mission is to promote the emotional and social growth of children so that they can thrive in school and succeed in life (2017, para1). In order to achieve this mission, the clinical staff must frequently classify mental health disorders using the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The DSM -5, offers these classifications of mental disorders where all individuals who fall into similar categories are homogenous to that group. They are often defined by their symptoms and are expected …show more content…
The concept of false generosity occurs when the oppressor themselves, act as the redeemer of the oppressed. However, this is a false sense of kindness. In fact, they are not fighting to end injustices but are creating fake hope to make the oppressed feel indebted to them. Consequently, false generosity can only be perpetuated by continued actions of dehumanization and oppression (Freire, 1970). Nonetheless, true generosity is a combination of fighting to eliminate this false sense of kindness. According to Freire (1970), True generosity lies in striving to achieve solidarity. In order to do so, the oppressed must work with the oppressor to achieve harmony.
In my opinion, CIS’s practice model offers room to foster true generosity. Currently, there is a false sense of generosity as the agency practice of class push in and student pull out still continues to make the stigma of getting counseling worse. In order to address this issue and achieve harmony, work must be done to foster changes in