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[thread] Following the racist-letter-in-BPS fiasco, I just wanted to remind ppl that there& #39;s no reason for qualified psychologists to NOT be racist. Therapy is not an apolitical space, and psychologists aren& #39;t impartial to moral panics manufactured and circulated in society/1
The problem is often that people expect "psychologists=accepting". But racism isn& #39;t (only) about overt hostility--if anything this is the least controversial aspect of it. I& #39;ve been made aware of many really terrible incidents of "well-intended" discrimination in therapy. /2
Stories of (white) therapists focusing particularly on Muslim clients: sexual repression (for males, also written to be associated with pol. violence), liberation of hijab/niqab, regressive parental roles (this comes often), Islam as delusion or source of distress. Why?/3
It& #39;s not difficult to understand. Islamophobia appears as a common-sense which sees: Islam (faith) as antithetical to the West; a cultural racism towards non-Europeans; Orientalist imagery of Muslims as regressive/savages/irrational (among other things).../4
These are all normalised in our era. Psy-professionals do not exist in a political vacuum. Having & #39;good intentions& #39; and & #39;empathy& #39; is insufficient to address dominant ideological paradigms, notwithstanding policies (Prevent, host.envir.) which legitimise them/5
Institutional racism, which is so prevalent and in fact increasing in times of hyper-nationalism, is when (increasing) policies legitimise normalised prejudices and render their excess an individual problem rather than a political one. /6
Point is that psy-pratices often reflect (racist) public consciousness, as displayed in that letter. Publicly "celebrated" paradigms (such as nationalism) allow for racist logics revealing how White, liberal-capitalist ideals remain the & #39;standard& #39; of & #39;well-being& #39;/end
@BPSOfficial deleted Kirsty& #39;s letter cuz of the outrage. But the BPS& #39;s inability to see letter for what it was, adhering to this dubious, pol. shifting & #39;middle ground& #39; (as if & #39;all ideas& #39; are equally valid...yea right) explains our inching towards fascism https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/why-i-no-longer-wish-be-associated-bps">https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/why-i-no-...
