Prejudices

Everyone has prejudices. Some let there's affect what they do others don't.

The best of Social Workers even have prejudices. It's a human thing.

If you read my blog you will see that I have a prejudice against chavs. But, I don't let it affect my work when I work with them. I don't oppress them, I don't discriminate. I do my job and I do it well.

Someone commented on one of my posts quite angrily that I shouldn't be doing what I am doing as I don't like chavs. Well they are wrong. Because of the above reasons. My blog is a diary for me. A place to write about how I feel about things and what I think.

It's not all chavs I don't like. It is the ones who not can't but wont aspire to anything. The type of person who will claim benefits, and never aspire to come off them. I am not having a go at people who claim benefits here, nor am I saying that everyone who claims benefits is a chav.

Our society is fantastic for the welfare state. OK, so some people will get more money claiming benefits than they ever will if they work. Unfortunately, it therefore, doesn't make sense for them to pay for before school and after school clubs to be working in a job that does not bring in anywhere near the same amount of money.

One of my last clients was in this position. She was taking home about £1400 per month in various benefits and on top of that cash her housing was paid for as was her council tax. She was a girl who left school at 16 with no qualifications and due to her circumstance would not be able to afford to go to work. To break even she would be needing to have a job that paid about £30k a year. Not very likely really. But. She had aspirations. She wanted to improve her education, she wanted to follow courses in which she would enjoy to help her gain more skills so that she was employable. This woman could possibly be classed as chav. I didn't have a problem with her though.

What I do have a problem with is 16-19 year olds claiming benefits straight from school as they have no aspiration. They don't want to do any thing with their life other than drink stella on the weekends, have lots of sex, produce lots of kids who will follow in their footsteps. Those kind of chavs. I know, there could be a whole heap of reasons why these people are like this and perhaps I am a bit quick to judge. But, there are people who are out there who just want to take the system for everything they can because they feel that they are entitled to it. Why are they entitled to it? They may never have worked a day in their life. Fair enough if the person has mental health problems, or if they are ill educated. As has been said where I am now if a person has had no education and crap parenting then perhaps you can understand why they don't have aspirations. But some people have no excuse. These are the people I do have a problem with.

The person who remains anonymous, which would tell me that I have probably had either conversations with them or I know who they are and they don't want to tell me, said I am no better than them and I shouldn't be doing what I am doing.

As a person I do not let what I think of people affect the way in which I work with them. I want to work in mental health but that is by the by. But, I have come across people in my life who are the type of people that are bad for society and if their future generations turn out like them then I feel for those. I am bound to have prejudices and my own thoughts on things. Every one does.

I was quite lucky to have been brought up in a middle class family (albeit bordering alcoholics but again that's neither her nor there. Lol :-) - and please don't comment on my lack of respect for alcoholics, unless you want another whole blog on my thoughts and feelings around alcoholism. But seriously my brothers and parents drink far too much, so much it worries me). Being from a middle class family I probably have different expectations of people. But I am aware of this.

What would be the worrying thing here would be if I was not aware of my prejudices, if I discriminated by not giving these people the same chances. But none of this goes on. When it comes to work, I leave everything at the door. I don't let my personal opinions, feelings or non professional judgements come in to it.

It's a bit higgeldy piggely but that is my explanation. Yes. I am prejudice, but I am aware that I am. Everyone has expectations of others. In my life it's not normal to walk your kids to school first thing in the morning with a can of lager (maybe he had just come off a night shift or something - but when 75% of the people on the estate I work on are unemployed...well what are the chances of that). It's not normal to be lazy. I don't like to see blokes walking around with no shirts on either. Save it for the back garden, the beach or pool.

And really. The personal digs saying I'd be too hungover to take my kids to school...how old are you? You sound like a child!



And this says it all...

Ambition (this is a joke, I am probably laughing at my own joke but never mind)!