Stereotypes & Stigma - Clarification on Some Forum Guidelines
Hello everyone!
We have been noticing a significant amount of content and concerns in the forums about matters related to Stereotypes and Stigma and would like to discuss this.
Expanding on the same,
We do not welcome or tolerate stigma and harmful discrimination of any kind towards people based on their personal/social identities/struggles.
❌ DON'Ts ❌
Dehumanize – reduce a person of a group solely to labels, including diagnostic or medical ones.
Speak for a group of people without them approving of the statements / the statements being factual.
Use derogatory language or slurs to defame, slander or portray an entire segment of the community or a user based on their identity in a negative light, etc.
Promote stereotypes, prejudices, or discriminate upon baseless claims.
Note: This does not mean we ask you to hold compassion towards some person you can't / don't want to, but to not reduce their characteristics as the representative of a whole group (which is often done without a scientific or objective base).
✅ DOs ✅
See people for what they are – people. Use person-first language where identity-first language is harmful according to the DON'Ts.
It's better to speak for and from your own experiences without overgeneralizing.
We can seek support while also being mindful of how posts impact any community and its members. Seeking support and educational content on stigma is welcome too.
Provide and discuss scientific data.
Recognise that everyone is fundamentally similar and different too. Hence, we can respect that and hold space for subjective experiences and realities without perpetuating stigma.
Forum Guidelines pertaining to this post,
Inflammatory, racist, sexist, offensive, homophobic, transphobic, etc. posts are not allowed. Posting about the impacts of abuse, racism, sexism, etc. or seeking support on these topics is allowed.
Unsupportive content including targeting or attacking other users in the community is not allowed. Disagreements may happen, but always maintain a respectful tone and try to move the conversation forward in an on-topic and constructive way. Sometimes this means agreeing to disagree.
Refer to any additional guidelines that may apply to specific subcommunities or subforums. These can be found by clicking "Guidelines" within a given subcommunity.
In order to maintain a therapeutic space, we delete forum posts that take away from a supportive forum environment. If a forum post is not helpful, nor positive, then it will be deleted.
Also these Community Guidelines which apply everywhere on 7 Cups,
Remain professional, kind, and respectful towards one another.
Even if you do not get along with an individual listener, member, or guest it is up to you to act appropriately, step away and not engage. It is up to you to put yourself in situations where you can act in this manner.
Do not engage in hateful behaviors of any kind.
Showing hate towards any gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, racial or cultural background or imposing your view point on any of these items on another user is forbidden.
Finally, from 7 Cups Culture Guide,
We Believe in Equality
At 7 Cups, we believe that every single person is valuable. In the world of 7 Cups, every person is treated with equal respect, enjoys equal freedom, and equal rights irrespective of the gender orientation, race, religion, or any other difference. We embrace diversity and consider it key in bringing varied perspectives and solutions to difficult problems.
and Our Mission posted by @GlenM,
7 Cups is for anyone who wants to live in a world where the human experience is free from stigma and stereotypes and rich with love and support. A world where all 7 billion of us can grow and feel like we truly belong.
We believe that each one of us is inherently valuable. We do not measure people based on where they are from, what they look like, or what position they hold. We recognize that people make sense in the larger story of their lives. We understand that people are complicated and that life is not simple or easy.
We are all on the same path. Some of us are just starting out. Others are further down the road. No matter where we are, being kind, compassionate, and accepting of one another enables us all to grow.
We do not tolerate people being mean, harmful, or rejecting others. We do not judge or look down on people.
Although there are forces that tend to disempower and create division, we stand together as we compassionately care for and champion one another. We see our differences as a strength. We are united in our shared goal of creating a place where all can find acceptance and be welcomed to a home where we all belong.
For the community – In any event that you find the guidelines being violated, please flag the post.
For the forum moderators – If at all possible, the forum moderator should remove the unsupportive content while retaining the post. All edits should generally include the forum moderator's name, date and the reason for editing with a link to the guideline(s). In the event that the post cannot be retained, the forum moderator will delete the whole post. If you believe a forum moderator has edited or deleted your post in error, you can email forum@7cups.com and we will investigate.
Big thanks to everyone who brought this up and worked towards it in the past and also the Personality Disorders Support Community Guidelines we used for reference. Thoughts and Feedbacks are welcome.
Lastly, I am going to include some academic writing in a reply here for anyone who is interested. Thank you!
Prejudice, Stereotyping, Discrimination, and Stigma
A stereotype is a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people. By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. A prejudice is its emotional counterpart, meaning fear, dislike, anger, hatred or other usually negative emotions solely based on the person's group membership and discrimination is the harmful behaviour or actions facilitated by holding prejudices and stereotypes. None of this is personal but towards a social category and the whole of individuals (seemingly) belonging to it.
One advantage of a stereotype is that it enables us to respond rapidly to situations because we may have had a similar experience before.
One disadvantage is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals; therefore we think things about people that might not be true (i.e. make generalizations).
Causes
Cognitive Simplifications
The use of stereotypes is a major way in which we simplify our social world; since they reduce the amount of processing (i.e. thinking) we have to do when we meet a new person.
Threats to Self-Esteem
Another social factor that contributes to the establishment of prejudices includes a need for maintaining or elevating one's social status.
Competition for Resources
These attitudes reduce the competition among people by increasing barriers or unjustified penalties for members of particular groups.
Socialization
Via mass and social media, family, religious institutions, schools, political groups and those in power, etc.
Conformity Bias
People may have prejudiced beliefs and feelings and act in a prejudiced way because they are conforming to what is regarded as normal in the social groups to which they belong.
Confirmation Bias
When we see members of social groups perform behaviors, we tend to better remember information that confirms our stereotypes than we remember information that disconfirms our stereotypes. We tend to perceive the world in ways that make it fit our existing beliefs more easily than we change our beliefs to fit the reality around us.
Social Categorisation
Stereotypes lead to social categorisation, which is one of the reasons for prejudiced attitudes (i.e. “them” and “us” mentality) which leads to in-groups and out-groups, further polarizing societies.
Why is this Harmful?
reduced hope
lack of understanding by family, friends, coworkers, or others
lower self-esteem
increased psychiatric symptoms
difficulties with social relationships, social isolation
reduced likelihood of staying with treatment
more difficulties at work or school
bullying, violence or harassment
difficulties in seeking treatment due to institutional barriers
Reducing Stigma and Stereotypes
Contact Hypothesis
It is a theory in psychology which suggests that prejudice and conflict between groups can be reduced if members of the groups interact with each other. Contact helps reduce anxiety, increase empathy and helps people to see things from the other group’s perspective.
Collective Guilt
Collective guilt is an emotion that people experience when their social group is perceived as having perpetrated immoral acts. When collective guilt is experienced, it motivates people to make amends for the harm done.
Common In-Group Identity Model
It posits that social bias can be reduced by uniting people who belong to different social groups under one larger, superordinate group. Bias can be reduced by factors that transform members' perceptions of group boundaries from “us” and “them” to a more inclusive “we”.
Major Reference
https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/
Here are some other helpful 7 Cups Forum Posts!
Thoughtful Thursday: Dealing with Stigma
Together For Mental Health: Speaking Up And Stigma
The 'Unfortunate Grit' - Mental Health Month - May 2022
Mental Health Stigma and Empowerment ♡
Thank you for this detailed information!~
@theriverissinging
Very detailed and useful info!
@theriverissinging
Hi River-I want to thank you so much for clarifying this in depth. Just like our members rooms and listener rooms we have no room for this behavior even in our forums. Our forums need to be totally supportive, welcoming and friendly enough so others can share openly and honestly.❤️
Thank you for sharing this
Thanks! Great reminders in this ❤️
@theriverissinging
Hi River! 😊❤️ Many thanks my friend! Well said and beautifully written! *high fives* 😊 and big *hugs* ❤️
@theriverissinging
Thank you for sharing this River!
If someone delete post will they tell you why delete that ? Sometimes I say things I don’t know are mean or bad and I am trying to learn not say things is bad like that. Like I accidentally say racist things because I never live by so much white people before until we move so my brothers and parents tell me some things I say is rude sometimes even if they don’t know I’m saying since I use sign language
@theboymoana If you have done something wrong and a post is deleted because of it, you should be notified. If you aren't notified you can email forum@7cups.com for more information.
The forum team does try to edit posts and not just delete as long as the overall post has enough context with the remaining parts that fit the guidelines.
@theriverissinging
Thank you for this timely and wise clarification, and for the detailed explanations that come from the thorough research of scientific material you took the effort to do.
Unfortunately, Prejudice, Stereotyping, Discrimination, and Stigma have been basic elements of human cultures worldwide since the beginning of the Sapiens Sapiens species, as anthropology, prehistory, and history can attest, causing a huge amount of suffering along the way.
I think 7 Cups is at the forefront of a movement towards a humane, inclusive, and ethical movement that is changing the world for the better.
Cultural change is slow and uneven. Many people that come here don't have a broad humanistic and ethical background that would allow them to behave in accordance with 7 Cups values.
So maybe more education might be needed to include all members of this community in this positive movement and way of thinking, that might not come natural to some.
More educational posts like this one, not circumscribed only to forums, but about the egalitarian treatment and respect of the dignity of fellow humans would be a great contribution.
Also, maybe a "crash course" in the form of compulsory training, could be imposed on the transgressors of these values, as a condition to continue belonging to 7 Cups.
@HealingTalk
Thank you for the ideas and feedback! We did introduce something in this direction called Community Service Model to Behavioral Points System. We'll see what the community needs are in the coming future and continue to make changes/updates to broaden/shrink things accordingly.
@theriverissinging thank you for this thread. :It is helpful to remind people of guidelines because things like using profanity can be triggering to people who have suffered trauma. Words that are edited in the Support Rooms are not edited in the Forums, like the "F" word, so people need to be especially careful what words they say in forums.
If possible, why not censor words in the forums like are done in the support rooms?
@soulsings
