Anti-Discrimonatory practice
...ssion 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. (Thompson 2001, p.21) Giddens defines prejudice as someone who has preconceived views based on hearsay rather than on direct evidence. People with prejudice views are often resistant to change even in the face of new information. Giddens also referred to how sociologists see ‘culture’. Culture is those aspects, which are learned rather that inherited. A society’s culture forms the basis of beliefs, ideas, and values they hold. My personal experience as a child was that, my perception, beliefs of race formed the basis of my personal prejudice, and these were based on the cultural assumptions in South Africa. For example, English people were rich, stayed in nice houses, and drove nice cars, and blacks were poor, dishonest and could not be trusted. According to Miles, beliefs and images categorize people of real or attributed differences when compared self-whites (subject) with the other (object). (Miles, 1989: p11) The way racial power over the subordinate group was manifested ranged from institutionalised overt racism to covert polite racism that is very common in our society. An example of an institutionalised racist system is the apartheid regime in South Africa. In that society, all whites, regardless of their origin enjoyed comparatively greater rights, simply based on their skin colour. In this regime the class structure, was such that whites had power over blacks because they owned property, which made them the dominant group. To Marx, class is defined according to the ownership and control of the means of production; therefore, two major classes present in capitalism are bourgeoisie and proletariat. Bourgeoisie owns and controls the means of production. Proletariat owns nothing and it sells its labour as commodity in return for money. (Anthony Giddens, 4th edition, Chapter1: p10). Webber on the other hand argued that class divisions derive not only from control or from lack of control of the means of production, but from economic differences that had nothing to do with property but the skills, credential and qualifications, which affect the types of job people, are able to obtain. He believed that an individual’s market position strongly influenced his or her overall ‘life chances’. I agree with Webber to a degree, as my position in relation to class has changed since my emigration to Scotland. Erik Olin Wright developed influential theories of class, which combined both Marx and Webber’s approaches. This being that there are three dimensions of control over economic resources in the modern capitalist production. I.e. control over investment or money capital, control over the physical means of the production, and control over labour power. Members of the working class however, have no control over any of them. (Anthony Giddens, 4th edition, Chapter10: p285 -287) In Britain, there are three basic social classes, namely: An upper class, middle class and a working or lower class. People of lower class incomes are discriminated against with regards where they live and for not having the economical means to purchase most common goods. People in the upper class is often discriminated against because they are seen as ‘snobs’ because they talk with a ‘posh’ ascent. In South Africa, oppression and segregation were enforced which reinforced the structural power relations in how the whites ruled the country. Millions of blacks were herded into ‘homelands’ or ‘town ships‘, as I know it. Bishop (1994) suggests that people in unjust and unequal positions are held in place by several interrelated expressions of power over political power, economic power, physical force, and ideological power. Let us consider how these sociological concepts and perspectives on race and class have an impact on Peter (name has been changed for purpose of confidentiality). Peter was a young person from an ethnic background, who had been admitted into care. The school mainly consists of white young people and staff. Thompson’s theoretical framework, (PCS) will be used to analyse race, class, and the implications of these within the residential unit. Peter is 12 years old with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. He was diagnosed as having mild learning difficulties and at the time of admission, Peter had no criminal record. His father is Asian and his mother is African Caribbean and lives within the Edinburgh area. Peter’s father was a very strong-minded person who was apposed to the idea of his son being in residential care. The Children’s Panel however overruled his appeal, as Peter had to receive a full time education. (Relates to ‘S’) Mother on the other hand is a passive person who was softly spoken. Peter is seen as withdrawn and had no friends within his home community. On the few occasions that Peter attended school, he presented difficulties and had to be excluded because of his aggression towards others. The staff group within the residential setting had no experience working with young people from another culture. There were anxieties amongst staff as they felt that Peter would be subject to discrimination and they had no experience in dealing with this level of discrimination towards ethnic groups. The staff group also feared that Peter’s needs would not be met. (Relates to ‘P’) Although the young people were receptive towards Peter, they had their own reservations as to whether Peter should be part of the unit because of his ‘color’. (Relates to ‘C and S’) Young people assimilate their lifestyles, norms, and beliefs from their own communities. Their perceptions towards other cultures or class groups are learned from those who are significant to them, I.e. parents, carers, and friends. For this reason, the young people were aloof towards Peter and often referred to him as being unequal to them. As a result, Peter was often excluded from the group. (Relates to ‘C’) Training for staff on these issues had to be provided to ensure that firstly, staff understood and identified which structural aspects of society were contributing factors to the discrimination of Peter in order to challenge them. Secondly, they were required to evaluate their own personal prejudices and cultural assumptions to enable Peter to be treated as an individual with his own set of norms and beliefs. We all have our own personal prejudices; whether we are honest enough to admit it is another matter. The main idea here is to ensure that whatever prej...