Morning reflections...

picture taken from here.

A blog posting in a Norwegian blog on “Declared to be Criminal and Stigmatization” made me think.

A woman had said that declaring customers of whores criminal can mean that the prostitutes become even more stigmatized. The blogger wonders

”But why should it be stigmatizing getting the status as victim of a crime?”

Yes, why? What's lying behind this? From where comes this view on victims?

The blogger refers to a case in Norway with a lawyer Tor Erling Staff going out in public claiming he wanted to have sex with grown up men when he was a 12-year old boy. She wonders (quite ironically?) if Staff is right when he thinks we should be careful talking about victims of sexual abuse when grown ups violate children?

When it comes to raping grown ups nobody talks like that she thinks. Can this have something to do with that rapes can happen you and me, i.e. all white, grown up ordinary women.

Prohibiting sex-buying by law won’t stigmatize other than men with a stigmatizing view on women, won’t it? She wonders.

She doesn’t think we can feel sorry for Norwegian men.

“We are the most liberal in the world”

she writes. Research has shown that men in Norway (and all men, nordmän, here in the north?) have more one-night-stands than any other men. And adds that feminists are the best partners in bed! Source: Rudman LA & Phelan JE (2007). The interpersonal power of feminism: is feminism good for romantic relationships? Sex Roles (DOI 10.1007/s11199-007-9319-9. Also see “Feminism and Romance go Hand in Hand.”

This made me think about diagnosing in general - as a power tool. To discharge people, not having to take them seriously or listen to them?? To dismiss people??

The one with more power always is superior when it comes to interpretation (Has what we call tolkningsföreträde).

And a friend recently pointed out how veterans in US have been treated. He wrote:

“US military personnel with PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) have been falsely diagnosed with personality disorder, and discharged [avskedade, avfärdade?] without a pension. A blogger wrote about the scandal: Returning Vets Discharged With Personality Disorder.”

And when I googled now on War Personality Disorder I found this blogposting “Military using personality disorder diagnoses to cheat soldiers out of lifetime benefits.” I haven't had time really doing this earlier. There is so much in my brain now, phew!

These things are used everywhere? By people in power! On all levels? From the lowest to the highest. And this is one form of power abuse. Starting already with the children, whom are diagnosed and labeled in different ways and to different degrees, by parents to manipulate them into behaviours...? Later on by personnel (teachers for instance) in the school etc.

"You are..."

And the child - what does it have (has?) to put against?

See the earlier posting “Fatalism…” about Pro-War Personality Disorder.

Yes think if we should diagnose all these abusers on all different levels back! But it is the victims that are diagnosed? How often are the perpetrators diagnosed and how? I don't know...

Just some morning reflections…