Discrimination is treating a person unfairly because of who they are or

Table of Contents

Discrimination is treating a person unfairly because of who they are or because they have certain characteristics. The different forms of discrimination are direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Direct discrimination is when you are treated worse than another person or other people because of a characteristic that they have. Indirect discrimination is when there is a policy that affects only a certain group of people in a way that other people aren’t affected in. The group of people who share that characteristic are in a disadvantaged position from everybody else. Harassment is unwanted behaviour which a person finds offensive or which makes them feel intimidated or humiliated. Victimisation is s when someone is treated badly because they complained about discrimination or helped someone who has been the victim of discrimination. The basis of discrimination is gender, race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, social class, culture, health status, cognitive ability.Infringement of rights in health and social care is when we are not respecting an individual’s rights by ignoring or abusing them. This also means they are not being cared for properly by their career. For example, in a hospital setting a nurse doesn’t allow a patient to practice their religion or culture by forbidding them to pray openly in their bed because they think it will offend atheist patients next to them. The short-term effect of infringement is, they will slowly start to seclude themselves from everyone, they will become a lot quieter and more reserved. The long-term effects of infringement are they will begin to notice flaws in themselves and because they are often quite weak, they won’t be able to stand up for themselves, so after a while the words from the person abusing them will begin to settle in their head and they will even begin to believe it themselvesCovert abuse of power is when an individual uses a hidden power to discriminate against someone, it is secretive and discrete. In terms of health and social care it can leave health professionals treating their clients differently to others, treating some more fairly than others and doing so without generally getting caught. An example would be not paying attention or helping a resident in a care home due to a certain characteristic. A short-term affect could be excessive anger, depression and anxious avoidance of settings in which the discrimination may occur. A long-term effect could be lingering feelings of anger and bitterness, difficulty trusting people, fear and avoidance of new social situation.Overt abuse of power is when an individual openly uses power to discriminate against people. If this form of abuse is being recognised by another person and is not being dealt with, this can lead to a negative impact on their behavior, health, well-being and recovery. For example, if a nurse openly refuses to care for a person of colour purely based on their race. A short-term affect could be feeling anxious, sad, guilty, empty or depressed. A long-term effect could be difficulty trusting people, fear and avoidance of new social situation, anxiety or depression.Prejudice is having negative attitude towards someone based on race or ethnicity formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason. For example, in a care home an elderly gay man experience prejudice from other residents in the home and the workers don’t stop the abuse. A short-term effect of prejudice feeling insecure and self-conscious. Long-term effect would be having no confidence and low self-esteem. Also, could lead to the person feeling embarrassed or shamed of what they were being judged on.Stereotypes is having specific beliefs about a group, such as descriptions of what members of a group look like, how they behave, or their abilities. Stereotyping would be a woman not being allowed to play football as it’s a traditionally male game. For example, a male nurse being ridiculed by patients as it’s a traditionally women job. A short-term of stereotyping could be feeling depressed and angry. Long-term effects are being aggressive after they’ve faced the given situation. They are more likely to have a lack of self-control and have trouble making good, rational decisionsLabelling is someone is putting them into a certain category based on looks or what you have heard about them, judging them before you know them. Calling someone who has broken a law a criminal is labelling. For example, if someone is saying that every person who is attending a school in a poor area is uneducated that is labelling. A short-term effect could be feeling less about themselves and feeling below others. A long-term effect is being detached and distancing themselves. Bullying is seeking to harm someone, intimidate them and torment them for being a more vulnerable person or having less power. Bullying would be constantly picking on someone for the way they dress and ridiculing them in front of others. for example, in a nursery if a child urinates on themselves and other children make fun of them. Short-term is being reluctant going to the place that the bullying occurs. A long-term would be depression, low esteem, low trust and anxiety which can all last for many years even when the bullying has ended.Abuse is when someone causes another person harm or distress and it can take many different forms, ranging from disrespecting someone to causing someone physical harm or mental pain. The main forms of abuse are physical, sexual, emotional, psychological and domestic and financial. Neglect is the ongoing failure to meet a child or elderly’s basic needs and the most common form of abuse. A victim of neglect might be left hungry or dirty, or without proper clothing, shelter, supervision or health care. For example, if a care home worker fails to attend to resident’s needs and regularly forgets to take them to the toilet that is neglect. A short-term would be feelings of hopelessness, agitation and frustration. A long-term effect could be loss of interest, enthusiasm, low self-esteem, loss of interest and enthusiasm. One effect of discriminatory practices on service users is marginalisation means being treated as being insignificant to other people and pushing them out of society. This would mean that the person marginalised would not be able top use the health a social care services that are available to other people. For example, a drug rehabilitation centre was closing down because of lack of funding even though drugs were a big problem in that area. Some groups of people started lobbying the council to ask for a new centre but no-one was listening. When a local councillor was asked about it she said ‘where would we open a new centre, no-one wants these people in their backyards’. This isolates the people that are trying to recover from their drug addictions.Another effect of discriminatory practices on service users is restricted opportunities. Restricted opportunities is when discrimination has the potential to prevent people accessing the health and social care services. This could be through the attitudes of the service providers who fail to value everyone, and this could lead to poor health.A negative effect of discriminatory practices on service users is disempowerment. Disempowerment is where people or groups of people feel less powerful or confident in themselves. Those who are discriminated against by a group of people often feel this way. Whilst feeling this way they aren’t able to take stand up for themselves and lose the will to do something about the discrimination. However, the feeling of disempowerment doesn’t always come from discrimination. For example, an elderly woman is being told that she is not useful to society anymore by telling her to retire from her job. This would make her feel useless and excluded so she is being disempowered.Low self-esteem can be an effect of discriminatory practices on service users. Low self-esteem is having a lack of confidence and feeling badly about yourself. People with low self-esteem often feel unlovable, awkward, or incompetent. Individuals wo are discriminated against are likely of developing low self-esteem. For example, having a low self-esteem puts a person at increased risk of self-harm, such as developing an eating disorder, drug abuse or even suicide it’s not dealt with.The last effect of discriminatory practices on service users is negative behaviour (including aggression and criminality) is any behaviour that is disrespectful and violates the value of an individual. It is behaviour that harms individuals and organisations. Aggression or crimes can be triggered by people discriminating against each other. People who experience hardship may change their behaviour as they may take their frustrations out on the police, teacher or other health care professionals. This type of negative behaviour can be either verbal or physical or even both. For example, a person of colour that is placed in all white care home might be discriminated against their skin colour by other residents. Not being able to get rid of their frustration and anger they begin to lash out to anyone that talks to them even if the other person isn’t discriminating them.