discrimination

Question 1

prejudice

Answer 1

an attitude, usually negative, which is based on ignorance and stereotypes, for example, believing older people are less intelligent than young people

Question 2

discrimination

Answer 2

treating an individual or a group of people unfairly because of their race, beliefs, gender, mental illness, sexuality, or disability

Question 3

bases of discrimination

Answer 3

race - racism
religion - islamophobia, sectarianism, etc
gender - sexism
disability - disablism
age - ageism
cognitive ability
mental health
sexuality - homophobia

Question 4

race

Answer 4

• racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, which often results in discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity
• associate racism with acts of abuse or harassment
• may not be revealed, eg someone may look through a list of job applicants and decide not to choose people with certain surnames - associate with catholic or protestant community
• racism includes all the barriers than prevent people from enjoying dignity and equality because of their race
  examples:
• staff using inappropriate terms eg GP in health centre referring to a patient as a gypsy instead of a traveller
• information written in English can discriminate against those who have difficulty using the English language

Question 5

religion

Answer 5

it is unlawful for service provider to treat an individual less favourably because of their religion or beliefs.
examples:
- care worker in day centre makes an offensive remark about religious beliefs “there they’re away to pray again, no ones going to save their soul”
- failing to provide older adults in a care home with meal choices to meet their dietary requirements according to their faiths eg not providing a service user who is muslim with a meal choice not including pork
- an early years worker in a playgroup with children from a range of cultures organising activities to celebrate Christmas holidays but not others eg making Christmas cards but not doing anything to acknowledge Vaisakhi, a Sikh festival

Question 6

gender

Answer 6

discrimination can simply occur because an individual is male or female
examples:
- staff in an early years setting always allowing the girl to go first in activities
- care workers in a day centre for people with mental health problems excluding one gender from an activity eg discouraging males from taking part in a baking class

Question 7

disability

Answer 7

staff could discriminate either positively or negatively depending on the ability of an individual
examples:
- steps into a building discriminate against people who have mobility problems eg walking stick or rolator
- having signs in a hospital that are not appropriate for sight-impaired individuals eg font is too small to read

Question 8

sexuality

Answer 8

refers to an individual’s sexual orientation
examples:
- clinic refuses to offer fertility services to a lesbian couple, because they are not heterosexual

Question 9

cognitive ability

Answer 9

‘level of intelligence’
the way an individual processes information in their brain can be the cause of discrimination, particularly those with learning difficulties
examples:
- only offering a patient with dementia or a learning disability a very brief time with staff at clinical appointments