I’ve been in trouble a few times for defending political correctness.
Yes. I think it is a good thing. *pop* That sound was probably OldSchool’s heart finally giving out at my traitor words.
The Tabloid Definition
What Is Political Correctness?
Political Correctness (PC) is the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behaviour, which were then legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be punished. [snip] It started with a few voices but grew in popularity until it became unwritten and written law within the community. With those who were publicly declared as being not politically correct becoming the object of persecution by the mob, if not prosecution by the state.
The media and the Internet are full of examples of what they call Political Correctness gone mad. Sometimes they have to make it up though, or do they ?
I don’t define the actual cases of PC gone mad as Political Correctness. The day I believe anything written in the Sun you can rip out my eyes and poke them with pointed sticks. Really, please.
I prefer to define them as outbreaks of stupidity.
What people do with the term political correctness is use it to diminish anything they don’t like.
Another Definition Of Political Correctness
I would use something like:
Ensuring that we work in such a way to be able to work with people from minority groups effectively and treat their belief, even the ones we don’t understand, with respect.
I’ve just made that up here and now. It is obviously not acceptable as it has not been reviewed by a group that strongly disagrees with everything I say. Mental Health Nurses come from a different culture to other nurses, and I feel we tend towards necessary evil actions.
I started defending political correctness because at the time my work was going through a major period of self inflicted culture change. There were three groups:
- The manager and a couple of nurses; all gung ho in favour of any mad idea that flashed through their tiny minds.
- Most of us, nurses and assistants; glumly sitting in the middle huddled together like friendly sheep. Wanting to change but not really wanting to at the same time.
- The Old School (hee hee); damned if they were going to change and loudly talking about how everything was going to hell in a handbasket and it was all better in the old days.
Group 1 would come up with a few good ideas, positive and worth discussing, and some terrible ideas. We were really going for a client focused positive risk taking thing. As it was a brain storming session though everything should have been up for discussion.
In this part of the country that was a significant ethnic population whom we could reliably expect to be treating fairly regularly. Being a not very nice part of the country there was not a huge amount of understanding of cultural differences. Especially as the Tv was full of negative potrayals and the BNP was causing trouble.
My problem was with group 3. Anything they did not like they dismissed as political correctness gone mad. As we know anything tarred as being politically correct is devalued. So instead of discussing proposals and toning down the more … extreme suggestions, group 3 simply went on the attack. (must remember to get my book on group dynamics, there is a name for group 3) Which made progress difficult and polarised discussion. To defend anything labelled as PC was to invite scorn, ridicule and standing out from the fluffy flock. Which meant if group 3 was loud enough the group 2 sheep gravitated towards them
Group 3 tended to use the PC attack on anything that was going to make them question the way we worked, on a deeper level, they also used it to attack anything that was actually going to increase the workload; even if it was going to be to the benefit of the people we worked with.
So for shock effect, and some boredom at a tiresome debate, I stood up and defended political correctness. I’m still proud of myself in an odd way 
To stunned silence. No one knew what to do, political correctness had never been defended before, it was the Universal Insult. Doing this propelled me from the comfortable middle of group 2 to management pet in group 1, not where I wanted to be. But primarily it shut up group 3. It forced us to actually discuss the pros and cons of ideas. This turned out to be much more worthwhile.
It’s almost my bedtime. Rather than save this and finish it later I’ll just post this and call it part one of a series. Sorry for the lack of detail but examples would be a bit too revealing.
My point if I have one is:
Don’t label ideas as political correctness gone mad. If something is stupid call it stupid. Just ban the phrase political correctness.
The second half of that could be a motto, go get it tattooed onto yourself !
Oh, Joy of joys. I wish I’d said that. There’s a similar but opposite thing said about common-sense by those in the third group. Used almost as a follow up statement to “political correctness gone made.” (Why is it, by the way that every ward I’ve been on gets the Daily Mail for the staff….whoops….people admitted to hospital to read?) Being used to grey areas, there are things that make sound sense, and things that are nonsense, and bits in the middle that need to be thought through.
I’m glad your back and posting with a vengeance. I’d had enough of my waffle.
Don’t get me started on the Daily Mail. Which gives me the impression of being the literary (?) wing of the BNP.
I’m happy to be back and posting. Now I’ve properly finished my break I’ll let everyone know my plans for the future of Mental Nurse.
I suspect many of our readers have not had enough of you waffle Malcolm. I’ve enjoyed every post by yourself and OldSchool.
I`ve no idea why you are worried about cardiac collapse. I`m more concerned about retinal detachment, my eyes fell out of my head when I read the post title. Off to work shortly, so I can`t say everything that I`d like to. For starters though:
I detect something of an irony here. From the cover of anonymity we can have a full and frank debate on this site. The reality in our working lives is that political correctness leaves debate stillborn. There are lots of genuine concerns NHS staff would like to make but don`t feel able to for fear of offending the PC Gods. And lets be honest offending the PC Gods is akin to infanticide in the modern day NHS.
My other point is with regard to your understandable concerns about the BNP. I`m afraid political correctness is the best recruiting sergeant that organisation could ever wish for. Currently, with the economy doing reasonably well, tolerance is predominating. An economic downturn will come at which point a lot of people will give very serious consideration to voting BNP. They will be a massive threat, they really didn`t need the headstart political correctness has given them.
Having said that I do have to concede that political correctness is nowhere near as great an impediment to decent patient care as the health and safety gestapo are. However, those people who feel it`s appropriate to do an ethnicity audit on 23 Dec and take down amusing material from the staff toilet wall ( yes, Mental your Cynic`s Guides offended someone in this neck of the woods ) just need a good slap in my book.
Perhaps they could be treated for paranoid psychosis?!
I’m going to assume Rosey, that you are referring to the editors and journalists (if that’s what they call themselves) of the Daily Mail & Express (or maybe you mean BNP supporters) rather than people who take offence.
Who are the PC Gods? Cos I’ve never met anyone who is too powerful to be challenged on their beliefs. If there is anyone with such influence is because practitioners allow them to have it. Or, of course, have a black and white view of things and a fear of the grey stuff.
I thought up the Cynic’s Guides while sitting on the toilet
I do feel that at time peoples fear of offending PC Gods is unwarranted. I’d rather say something, risk offence and get a chance to explain and debate rather than say nothing at all.
It`s not obvious who the PC Gods are. The ambulance chasers are a vital component ably supported by professional victims, eager to take financial advantage, and those desperate to demonstrate their PC credentials as they feel it will aid their career enhancement. It was the latter category who were “offended” by the Cynic`s Guides on display at my place of work.
I can only conclude, Malcolm, that you and I reside in parallel universes. You talk of challenging the Gods. I`ve worked in four parts of this country and no one, but no one, dares do that. Only last weekend a patient was assessed by a second opinion doctor on my ward. Our gentleman was from a quiet rural community. He had no idea what the Asian psychiatrist was asking him. The assessment was a farce. That was plain wrong. Do you think I would dare flag that up ?. ( I`ve heard anecdotal reports of a patient being sectioned for telling a foreign doctor it was “raining cats and dogs” ). No, you keep your mouth firmly shut and make no mistake about this, I am more vocal than ALL of my colleagues by a factor of plenty. I don`t know a single nurse who would risk being accused of racism. It`s no different to the scenario you highlighted in the forum. Your manager was terrified of exactly the same thing. It`s an evil and little better than fascism in my view.
I think there’s a parallel universe thing going on too – because lots of your experiences differ from mine, which just goes to show that there is no black and white. As for the unchallengeable issues you raise – why do you find this so hard? Its advocacy. It’s part of the job.
Perhaps if you spend your career making amendments to your personal development plan, going on courses, attending meetings, accessing supervision and having a bit of a reflect you can be excused for your lack of awareness as to what`s going on in the real world.
Advocacy is NOT “part of the job”, it is our primary responsibility. It is our duty. Any issues which are perceived, in any way, to be PC though and no one says a peep.
Try reporting a missing person:
Nurse ” I`m concerned about a 67 year old lady who`s a little confused and who`s gone missing”
Police Control.”Is this a racist, sexist or homophobic incident ?. Has she been subjected to any bullying ? What is her ethnic origin ?”
Nurse ” Would you like a name and description ?”
It`s actually quite intimidating. What about these equality and diversity courses ?. I`ve dodged one for a long time but the last one I went to was like a North Korean state re-programming gulag. “Why do you find it so hard ?”. It`s called a climate of fear, mate.
Just like advocacy, making amendments to my personal development plan, going on courses, attending meetings, accessing supervision and having a bit of a reflect are parts of the job. It called being a thoughtful, rather than mindless practitioner.
I stand corrected. I didn`t realise you had time for actual practice.
[...] before think mental health nurses left to their own devices have a tendency towards evil. See my previous Praise of PC post for the [...]