PSYCHOLOGISTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
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Language to Avoid

Avoid terms like ‘poverty’ and talk about specific issues

Sometimes we use language which triggers stereotypical beliefs people hold about the causes of inequality. Because these beliefs are based upon stereotypes rather than analysis, they are likely to be simplistic and distorted.11
The power of these stereotypes appears to come from the ease with which they ‘take hold’ in public consciousness. However, when applied to real-life scenarios stereotypes often no longer make sense.12 For example, stereotypical beliefs that people receiving benefits are “lazy scroungers” no longer make sense when people are presented with information on the high proportion of recipients who are in work, in low paid jobs or working longer hours.
Interestingly, people often use multiple explanations about an issue at the same time (see box, below). One option is to provide an alternative explanation to the stereotypical
ones provided in the media or by politicians. It may
be helpful to provide explanations which clearly demonstrate the connection between poverty and specific issues such as zero-hour contracts, low pay
and the rising cost of living. For example, explaining the problem of not being able to pay all of one’s bills in terms of the cost of housing as a percentage of income rather than the individual not being thrifty enough.12
 It is important that this message is communicated as clearly and simply as possible, as our attention is more likely to be drawn to something we understand. For example, the size of a government department budget is more likely to attract someone’s attention when expressed as an amount per taxpayer rather than as the overall amount.13 


People use multiple explanations
People use different explanations of poverty in different contexts, and often give apparently contradictory
explanations at the same time.11,12 For example the same person may make sense of poverty using both individual victim-blaming alongside government-based explanations. This is important because different explanations lead to different solutions and explanations that blame the poor or fate mean that societal changes aren’t required. 



​References
 
11 Edelman, M. (1998). Language, myths and
rhetoric. Society, 35(2), 131-139.

12 Harper, D. (2003). Poverty and Discourse. In Stuart C. Carr & Tod S. Sloan (eds), Poverty and Psychology: From global perspective to local practice (pp.185 – 203). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

13 Dolan, P., Hallsworth, M., Halpern, D., King, D., & Vlaev, I. (2014). Mindspace: Influencing behaviour through public policy. London: Cabinet Office/ Institute for Government. 

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  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Position statements
    • Racism is Not Entertainment
    • Response to Panorama: Undercover Hospital Abuse Scandal
    • Letter to Jeremy Hunt
    • UK Government Green Paper, Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision
    • Esther McVey: PSC and RITB response
    • Origins of Happiness? PSC response
  • Groups
    • Start a New Group
    • England >
      • North East >
        • North East
        • Yorks and Humber
      • North West >
        • Manchester- PSPO letter
      • South West >
        • Bristol and Bath
        • South West
      • South East >
        • East Anglia
        • London
        • Oxford
        • Suffolk
        • Sussex
      • Midlands >
        • Midlands
        • Leicester
    • Ireland
    • Northern Ireland
    • Preaching to the Non-Converted
    • Scotland
    • Wales >
      • South Wales / De Cymru >
        • Building Resilience and Community Wellbeing
        • Save the T4CYP Programme
        • Support the Mind over matter Report
        • Social and Political Causes of Poor Mental Health
        • UN Report on Extreme Poverty in the UK Letter
      • North Wales
  • Educational Psychology
  • Campaigns
    • Visioning a new education system
    • New Savoy Conference Statement
    • Psychologists Against Austerity >
      • Austerity Briefing Paper
      • Everyday Austerity
      • Formulating Policy >
        • Basic Income: Psychological Impact Assessment
    • Private Health Watch
  • General Election 2019
    • PSC Manifesto 2019
    • Manifesto Checker
    • Get Britain Voting!
    • Week of Action 2019
    • Improving Public Discussion About... Brexit
  • Events and Actions
  • Media Archive
  • Join our mailing list
  • Responding to Austerity and Mental Health in Wales - Accessible Document