Labels and stigma within the domestic violence context
Labels and stigma are intertwined within the sphere of domestic violence. Multiple contributing factors impact on a women’s capability to leave a violent relationship; these factors are made up of a combination of culture, gender, individual, organisational, community and societal factors. The evident gender gaps between males and females often discount the long-lasting psychological effects that long remain, well after the physical violence has ceased (Taft, Hegarty, & Flood, 2001, pp. 499-500). Critics have argued that victims of domestic violence should ‘just leave’, however, each individual’s situation is different and this is not always possible, as women who have been in an abusive …show more content…
I have learnt that normality is not an objective notion, however, it is subjectively and culturally constructed (Becker & Arnold, 1986, p. 40). Negative repercussions stem from this, as social control and the lack of tolerance for difference, is justifying the discrimination of people with a disability. Notions of ‘normal’ according to Western society views, is something that society is used to, and is an outcome of the expectation that everyone will conform and adapt traditional white ways of living and acting (Becker & Arnold, 1986, p. 41). Within society people with a disability are perceived as not having the capacity to live independent lives, alternatively, there is a strong emphasis placed on their impairments as opposed to their abilities. As Armstrong, Armstrong & Barton (2016, p. 62) argue in relation to the education system, the function of norms is to support the students in the traditional way, which is to sit down in the classroom and learn, which excludes students with a disability. My BSW has taught me that to combat this, it is essential to take a holistic viewpoint and life course approach in the context of working with clients that have a disability, this entails a multidimensional approach, which involves taking into account structural contexts and social changes. By implementing such an approach, it allows for the understanding of how the experience of disability affects people with a disability in different ways, by taking into consideration factors that stem from their life course. Further, this breaks down the barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’, by acknowledging difference as not being an unacceptable notion. Thus, redefining notions of ‘normal’ in mainstream society is required to address the issue of exclusion within the disabled
Labels and stigma are intertwined within the sphere of domestic violence. Multiple contributing factors impact on a women’s capability to leave a violent relationship; these factors are made up of a combination of culture, gender, individual, organisational, community and societal factors. The evident gender gaps between males and females often discount the long-lasting psychological effects that long remain, well after the physical violence has ceased (Taft, Hegarty, & Flood, 2001, pp. 499-500). Critics have argued that victims of domestic violence should ‘just leave’, however, each individual’s situation is different and this is not always possible, as women who have been in an abusive …show more content…
I have learnt that normality is not an objective notion, however, it is subjectively and culturally constructed (Becker & Arnold, 1986, p. 40). Negative repercussions stem from this, as social control and the lack of tolerance for difference, is justifying the discrimination of people with a disability. Notions of ‘normal’ according to Western society views, is something that society is used to, and is an outcome of the expectation that everyone will conform and adapt traditional white ways of living and acting (Becker & Arnold, 1986, p. 41). Within society people with a disability are perceived as not having the capacity to live independent lives, alternatively, there is a strong emphasis placed on their impairments as opposed to their abilities. As Armstrong, Armstrong & Barton (2016, p. 62) argue in relation to the education system, the function of norms is to support the students in the traditional way, which is to sit down in the classroom and learn, which excludes students with a disability. My BSW has taught me that to combat this, it is essential to take a holistic viewpoint and life course approach in the context of working with clients that have a disability, this entails a multidimensional approach, which involves taking into account structural contexts and social changes. By implementing such an approach, it allows for the understanding of how the experience of disability affects people with a disability in different ways, by taking into consideration factors that stem from their life course. Further, this breaks down the barriers between ‘us’ and ‘them’, by acknowledging difference as not being an unacceptable notion. Thus, redefining notions of ‘normal’ in mainstream society is required to address the issue of exclusion within the disabled