Mabel Coopers Life Story - Essay Example

?Mabel Cooper’s Life Story Order No. 504647 Introduction Mabel Cooper’s life story is part of an autobiography written by her which had two parts. The first part titled ‘Mabel Cooper’s Life Story’ was worked along with Dorothy Atkinson and narrates the incidents she remembered of her past life. The second part of her autobiography is titled “My Quest to Find Out” tells us of how she went about finding out details of the past such as searching for her family, by going through the records of the different schools she studied in and the hospitals and homes where she had spent much of her life. ‘Mabel Cooper’s Life Story’ is a heroic tale of a very determined individual who survived in society against all odds. Qs. 1. Discrimination and stigmatization that Mabel encountered during her life Mabel was born to a poor and homeless mother on the 10th of August, 1944 in Islington, London, but was moved into care when she was just four months old. Thereafter, her childhood was spent in different care schools and finally she was moved to St. Lawrence Hospital, Surrey, where she spent the next 20 years of her life. Mabel was discriminated and stigmatized because she had a learning disability and had never been to school and moreover she had a very poor background history. Mabel was told that she was not capable enough to study and so was put in a ward where they learned basket making. They also had the option of working in the laundry or workshops or even remain idle if they wished. A learning disability proved to be a real setback for Mabel and besides not being allowed to go to school, she was also not allowed to use her own clothes or shoes but had to make do with the ones given by the hospital. Though dances were conducted on the premises, they were again segregated with males on one side and females on the other. There were a good number of staff and they had to dance in between them. Mabel and her friends were discriminated from society by not being allowed to go out and mix with the regular people. Money in the form of green coins were given to them but it could only be used in their own hospital canteens and not outside. People who ran away were brought back and put in a ward called G3 where they were locked up as punishment. In this manner people with learning disabilities were discriminated and segregated from society in contemporary Britain. 2. Explain the concept of 'social role valorization' and describe how you would ensure Mabel becomes a valued member of the community. Banks, S (2001) in the book, ‘Ethics and Values in Social Work’ sheds light on the contribution of social workers in fulfilling the concept of ‘social role valorization’. Broadly speaking, people with learning difficulties are looked down upon and discriminated by society for the mere reason that they are much less productive and very little use to the community and society at large. 'Social role valorization' (SRV) is defined as "The application of what science can tell us about the enablement, establishment, enhancement, maintenance, and/or defense of valued social roles for people" (Wolfensberger, 1995a). The primary goal of SRV is lending support to people in society so as to enable them to enjoy all the good things that society has got to offer. Some of these good things are love and friendship, respect and dignity, acceptance and belonging, good education and status in the society. In the case of people with learning disabilities, it becomes impossible for them to find a valued place in society since they are not in a position to contribute to their community and society and automatically become devalued members of society. Hence being devalued members of society, they are not in a position to enjoy the good things in life. On the other hand, such members are rejected by their community and society, and thereby receive a lot of negative responses and in most cases become objects of abuse and violence. SRV is a response to such groups of devalued members and lends great support in helping them to become valued members of society. 3. Examine the development of your views on the rights and responsibilities of people with learning disability. Though we live in a society with all its diversities, yet we consider it to be one family in the bigger picture. These diversities stem from differences in castes, religions, ethnicity, language, customs and traditions and differences in their socio- economic backgrounds which could be bridged in some way or the other to bring about peace and harmony within our society. However, it is quite different when it comes to disability. Individuals with physical disabilities are not so much at a disadvantage than people with either mental or learning disabilities. Hence, according to me people with learning disabilities suffer much more discrimination and segregation than those with physical disabilities. According to me, I feel that society holds a greater responsibility in identifying and supporting such devalued members and helping them to enjoy the good things the society has to offer. I also strongly feel that society should look upon them as equals and treat them with love and respect instead of discriminating them. 4. Explain what is meant by 'diversity' and describe what Mabel can offer to a diverse society.  The concepts of ‘diversity’ and ‘equality’ mean different things to different people. However, these two concepts play major roles in society for the mere fact that they are relative to inter-culturalism, participation, equal opportunities and outcomes within the societal framework. However, these concepts cannot be applied to every individual as they have their own differences. According to (Thompson, 2003) these concepts are ‘also used in the political, cultural and economic contexts to promote particular values or interests. Diversity encompasses human differences in relation to physical abilities, religious and political beliefs and ideologies, race, gender, socio- economic status, age and sexual orientation. According to Clark (2000) values are limited to fundamentals of social work and can be categorized into four groups – 1) the uniqueness and value of the individual, 2) Their entitlement to justice, 3) Their aspirations to freedom, and 4) The essentiality of community. However, according to (Beckett & Maynard, 2005) such ‘social work values exist in a practice world of competing and often contradictory value positions.’ Against such conflicting arguments, we understand that every individual is unique and hence should not be compared with each other on any basis. In Mabel’s case we find that she has a learning disability but even so is a member of the same society we live in. She too has every right, like anyone of us to be recognized and live as a valued member of society even though her contribution towards society may be of minimal value. On her part Mabel can offer her genuine love and respect to her fellow members and make her small contribution by performing practical tasks such basket – making and other jobs that she could be taught to do. 5. Comment on how far you consider Mabel's experiences of care reflect the principles of at least one specific professional code of practice and examine any potential inequality between Mabel and those responsible for her welfare. Mabel Cooper and other individuals like her in our society lead a very silent obscure life with nothing much to look forward to. (Atkinson et al., 1997 & Potts 1998) describe such people as ‘forgotten people leading forgotten lives so that telling their stories became a social and historical imperative.’ This clearly shows that these people had no face nor voice in the society and were completely dependent on support in every way possible. (Atkinson et al., 1997 & Potts 1998) quotes Mabel’s story as an example and states that her story ‘takes its readers into a separate and segregated world of children’s homes and long – stay institutions.’ Through Mabel’s story we come to understand that the care meted out to Mabel and all those with disabilities did not reflect the principles of any professional code of practice for the mere fact they were not treated in a humane manner. Mabel expresses these feelings of rejection and discrimination right through her autobiography giving a clear description of how they were segregated from society and never allowed to go out from the hospital premises and meet people in the society. They never enjoyed any freedom and could have no choices of their own. They were denied liberty of any kind and had to follow what was told to them and were punished when they disobeyed the rules. Mabel and those responsible for taking care of her shared many potential inequalities between them. The main inequality is in the fact that those who were entrusted to take care of them were people who had no learning disability unlike Mabel and her peers. However, they were unable to understand the depth or extent of psychological damage they were allowing in treating them in this manner. The principles of equality as laid down in professional practice were not reflected in the way they treated their patients. This point can be clearly seen in the denial of liberty and freedom to them, not considering that after all they too were human and had every right to be treated so. References Atkinson, D. et al (1997) Forgotten Lives “Exploring the History of Learning Disability Kidderminster: BILD Publications.  Banks, S (2001), Ethics and Values in Social Work, London: Palgrave.  Beckett, C., & Maynard, A. (2005). Values and ethics in social work: An introduction. London: Sage. Clark, C. L. (2000). Social work ethics: Politics, principles and Practice. Basingstoke: MacMillan. Mabel’s Story www.open.ac.uk/hsc/ldsite/mabel/index.html Potts, P. (1998) Articulating with Difficulty: Research Voices in Inclusive Education. London, Paul Chapman Publishing. Thompson, N. (2003) Promoting Equality: Challenging discrimination and oppression. (2nd Ed.): Buckingham, MacMillan.  Wolfensberger, W. (1995a).   The SRV training package. Unpublished manuscript. Read More