The potential effects of discriminatory practice on the service user would depend on an individual, as of how strong they are or how weak. When people are not treated in an equal way this can have a serious effect on their lives some of these are: loss of confidence, stress, anger, anxiety, depression and poor self-concept. If these effects are serious then it could make the person feel worthless and commit suicide.
Case study- Discrimination
Gender: are a socially constructed men and women, they are not the same sex.
Jobs available: they might give the job to someone younger rather than an older person because of the wages; everyone should have the opportunity to have the same jobs regarding their gender or race
Expectation of boys/girls: they should all have the same expectations but in society girls are meant to be more disciplined than boys and cleaner than boys whereas boys are thought to be lazy and disrespectful.
In our society almost everyone has their own different expectations for boys and girls and it goes same for men and women. Girls are expected to be good with studies and are meant to be good at cooking and cleaning and as for boys they are meant to be bad at housework and some good at studies and some bad. Also, in some tradition girls are meant to stay at home and help around with housework whereas boys are meant to go to school and get education. As of this both boys and girls can be affected by it because in reality girls might not be good at studies or be good at housework and boys might be good at cooking, but if this expectations are there for them to meet then they might not think of anything else other than those expectations set out for them.
Race:
People who are a different race to others can be easily discriminated against through bullying, neglect e.g.
A 10 year old girl who is always very bright, happy and opens to everyone has just moved city and having to move school as well, she settles into her new school and is already making new friends; however it is not long before she gets bullied due to her race. The first time she did not get affected but later on the bullying gets worse each and every day and it has started to affect her as an individual. She doesn’t tell her parents or teachers that she is getting bullied and keeps it to herself, as time passes the happy and bright girl doesn’t speak to anyone and becomes quite in the class, also due to the bullying her grades drops.
The effects of this bullying could cause the girl depression as she could also lose confidence in herself. Not only will there be bullying but there may also be a presence of physical abuse, which could cause her physical injury, emotional injury and poor mental health. She is also vulnerable to this as she is not able to protect herself and she could also cause big harm to herself due to feeling worthless and lead to suicide.
Disability:
If you’re disabled you have the same rights as other people. If a disabled person was applying for a job then the employers should also make reasonable changes to help disabled employees and job-applicants such as application forms providing forms in Braille, audio formats so they are as fair as other applicants, also making sure the workplace has the right facilities, equipment and resources for disabled workers to be able to work.
An old woman who is unable to walk uses wheel chairs to transport herself, in the care home where she lives she has friends who is the same age as her, she is also known for having a great personality however she also suffers from heart disease and cancer. Although she is disabled she loves to volunteer in many different events, but sometimes when she does her volunteering work she gets judged the way she is because she is on a wheelchair. She does not get the comment about her get to her, but later the judging gets a lot worse and the old woman starts to doubt in herself. As a result this could affect her baldy but like any other she could have depression, a loss in her self-confidence and also due to her illness it could also result in death.
In all of the three discriminatory practices in a health and social care setting the people who are different people the normal people are casted out of the society and as a result has caused many different problems and illness that could come with it. This is also one of the reasons why equality, diversity and rights are important in the society and so it can protect the people from getting hurt.
Discriminatory practice in Health and social care
Discrimination can come in all different types and can be show in all ways. Discriminatory practices in health and social care setting also have a many diverse ways to show it. When people discriminate they treat the individual they are discriminating against differently from others. People can discriminate others simply because of their social class, culture, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality or age. Some of the discriminatory practices can be show through different behaviours which includes:
- Infringements of rights: means when an individual is not respecting another individual’s rights and not letting them practise their culture.
- Covert abuse of power: the word cover means hidden and covert abuse of power means hidden abuse. It can also mean a misuse of power whether it is at home or workplace, government, school and colleges.
- Overt abuse of power: this is the opposite of covert, overt means open. Overt abuse of power is something that is happening openly using the power to discriminate.
- Prejudice: is when an individual judges another individual or a group of people without.
- Stereotyping: is when an individual or a group of people act out of assumptions over a group of people or an individual that might not be true.
- Abuse: it means to neglect a person’s need by treating them disrespectfully or even causing them physical harm.
Individuals or a groups of that are discriminated against by other individuals will feel disempowered, some may be willing to fight against this and in some cases will also win. However some may not win against it and as a result they will become depressed and disempowered resulting in poor health issues.
BTEC L3 Health and Social Care
Unit 2: Equality, Diversity and Rights (EDR)