Child Safety Practice Manual

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Stigma and Bias

Parents with disability often experience attitudinal barriers, discrimination and misperceptions about their abilities. They may have to invest efforts into convincing other people they are capable of parenting and facing disapproval of their decision to parent (Families Commission, 2012). Parents may try to conceal their disability, not identify as having a disability, or may not use disability services due to the stigma associated with having a disability (Mirfin-Veitch, as cited in Families Commission, 2012).

The following short video from SANE Australia explores the impact of stigma in the media:

Real life impact of stigma in the media

00:02

Stigma is a permanent part of my life. After my diagnosis, many people just left. The negativity

00:09

just came from decades of misunderstanding. In the media. In medicine. People were afraid.

00:19

When I was given my diagnosis, it was stigma that told me I was never going to have a home.

00:24

I was never going to have a job. I was never going to have a family. And I was never going

00:28

to have a life. It took me 15 years to realise that is all completely wrong. When we have weeks

00:36

where the stigma in the media is so continuous, it’s like a wall. It’s like a wall of

00:43

noise. When my partner and I are watching the news, and they bring an article on that

00:48

is talking about crime, that’s talking about a perpetrator… We’re just, ‘Don’t

00:52

do it, don’t do it, don’t do it!’ And then you hear the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

00:57

Or you hear the motivation of mental illness. And we are just frustrated. When I open my

01:05

eyes in the morning, to when I go to sleep at night, the information that I see about

01:11

stigma, with mental illness, rejects me. It tells me that I am not worthy. And it tells

01:17

me that I don’t deserve to belong. Stigma is a weapon that keeps people apart. And

01:24

I don’t want to be apart anymore.

English (United Kingdom)

Think about the following scenario and questions:

Sam (age 30) has been with her partner Qing (age 27) for four years. Sam works four days a week at a laundromat and Qing drives a delivery truck part-time. They live in a rental unit and have friendly neighbours. Sam and Qing have been talking about having a child for a few years and recently found out that Sam is pregnant with twins.

What are your initial thoughts about Sam and Qing having children?
What are your thoughts about Sam and Qing having children if Sam and Qing both have an intellectual impairment? Did your initial thoughts change? If so, why?
What are your values about people with disability who make a decision to have children? What about parents with disability who have children unplanned?
Are you aware of any bias you have towards parents with disability? How could you explore this further and address any bias you may have?

Interface with the criminal justice system

Responding

Published on: 19 November 2019

Last reviewed: 19 November 2019

Date: 19 November 2019
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