Stereotypes about young people who hear voices

Negative stereotypes associated with people who report unusual experiences and beliefs cause lasting harm and often undermine agency. In a series of workshops with the young people of the Voice Collective, facilitated by Fiona Malpass (Mind in Camden) and designed by Lisa Bortolotti and Kathleen Murphy-Hollis, we discussed the challenges that hearing voices poses for young people, at home, at school, and in healthcare settings.

The result of our conversations was a script created by the young people who participated in the workshops, where they described three forms of negative stereotyping that cause harm: 

• perceived dangerousness, leading to the thought that the young person poses a threat; 
• perceived lack of capacity or incompetence, leading to the thought that the young people cannot achieve anything valuable or challenging; 
• perceived difference or weakness, leading to social exclusion.

The script was turned into an animated video, produced by Squideo (click below to watch).

Snake or dangerousness

Snake

Perceived dangerousness is represented by Snake, who does not really pose a threat to humans but is feared and kept at a distance. Contrary to popular belief, most snakes are neither venomous nor dangerous. Snakes defend themselves if someone disturbs or attacks them but are not aggressive towards humans. Yet, many people make assumptions about their being dangerous. So, Snake in the video is right that his bad reputation is undeserved.

Butterfly or incompetence

Butterfly

Perceived lack of capacity is represented by Butterfly. Although she is an active pollinator contributing to the life of the garden, Bee teases her and suggests that she is lazy and useless, based on her past as a caterpillar, when she was seen eating all day long. Seeing a chewed leaf might make us think that caterpillars are good for nothing but destroying plants. However, caterpillars are actually very important to their environment even before they become pollinators. They prevent vegetation from growing too quickly and depleting nutrients in the soil. So Bee's attitude towards caterpillars and butterflies in our video is unjustified.

Wolf or exclusion

Wolf

Perceived difference or weakness is represented by Wolf. Wolf got an injury and because of that he was left behind by his pack. The other wolves assumed he would be a burden, unable to keep up and hunt for himself. But there is no reason that his small, temporary injury would have made his contributions to the pack less valuable in the long term. He would have probably needed some support until the injury was healed, and then he would have been in a position to run and hunt as fast as the other members of the pack.

A safe space

Snake, Wolf and Butterfly in the clearing

Being treated as dangerous for no good reason, being considered as a burden and nothing else, and being excluded by shared decision-making, are all harmful (and sadly common) experiences for young people who hear voices. Young people struggling with their mental health have a lot to contribute and with some support they can continue to pursue the projects that are important to them.

In the video, Snake, Wolf and Butterfly meet in the clearing to share their experiences and support each other. What happens in the clearing, sharing experiences in an environment that is safe and non-judgemental, is what happens in the Voice Collective. Young people who hear voices and have other unusual experiences or beliefs come together and connect with people who are in a similar situation. 

The video is an invitation to go beyond the stereotypes and see the person, not the label. To learn more about myths and truths about hearing voices, visit The Voice Collective website.

You find The Wolf, the Snake and the Butterfly and other animated videos introducing philosophical issues in The Philosophy Garden, a virtual philosophy museum gathering and producing resources for young people, educators, and the general public. 

The Philosophy Garden is a project run by EPIC co-investigator Lisa Bortolotti, with the collaboration of Kathleen Murphy-Hollies, Anna Ichino, and Fer Zambra.

When is dismissing a report an act of injustice?

There is a fable by Aesop called The Stag and the Fawn. The stag scares the rest of the herd with his stamping and bellowing but is terrified by the hound. Aesop tells us that this is a story about courage and cowardice but it can also be seen as a story about power relations in a group. The stag can afford to terrorise the other deer because he is more powerful and more highly respected than they are.

 

The Stag and the Fawn by Aesop  

A STAG, grown old and mischievous, was, according to custom, stamping with his foot, making offers with his head, and bellowing so terribly that the whole herd quaked with fear of him; when one of the little fawns, coming up to him, addressed him thus: Pray, what is the reason that you, who are so formidable at all other times, if you do but hear the cry of the hounds, are ready to fly out of your skin for fear?

What you observe is true, replied the stag, though I know not how to account for it. I am indeed vigorous and able, and often resolve that nothing shall ever dismay my courage; but alas! I no sooner hear the voice of a hound but my spirits fail me, and I cannot help making off as fast as my legs can carry me.

Moral: The greatest braggarts are the greatest cowards.

(Aesop's Fables, 1881, WM.L. Allison, New York)

Consider another story featuring a fawn, mother and father deer, and a mountain lion. Watch the video below, which was produced by Squideo from a script I wrote in order to illustrate what epistemic injustice is.

The Fawn and the Mountain Lion 

When is dismissing another's report an act of injustice? 

Father deer (to Mother Deer and Fawn): It’s late let's go to the lake to get some water before it gets dark.

Fawn (eyeing an acorn in the bushes): Wow I would love to gobble that up! (spotting a mountain lion): Oh no, never mind the acorn! 

Fawn (running to catch up with Mother and Father Deer down the lake): Mommy Daddy I just saw a huge mountain lion behind the bushes! We have to go, it is not safe here!

Father Deer (sceptical): If there was a mountain lion behind the bushes I would have heard the steps… you must have imagined it.

Mother Deer (concerned): I am not sure we should stay. Shouldn't we listen to Little Fawn and get back to the herd? Fawn has never lied to us before! 

Father Deer (in a patronising tone): Calm down, young ones don't distinguish reality from imagination and they always try to draw attention to themselves. (then smiling to Fawn) Why don't you get some water little Fawn, you will be thirsty otherwise! This water is delicious, so fresh!

(Mountain Lion attacks Father Deer and bites his the leg but is chased away by Owl descending on the scene with loud screchees)

Mother Deer (to Father Deer): Are you okay?

Owl (to the viewers): We sometimes dismiss a report when we don't trust the speaker due to some negative stereotype but in dismissing what the speaker has to say we pay a high price. We reject information that can be valuable to us.

Mother Deer: You are right wise owl.  In our herd, females and fawns are never listened to but little Fawn recognizes a mountain lion when he sees one! To dismiss him is not just risky, it is an injustice! He should not be silenced when he has something to say.

In this story, the fawn sees a mountain lion and warns his father that there is danger but is not believed. The reason why the fawn is not believed is important: the fawn is not known for lying, being unreliable, or seeking attention, as his mother points out. However, his father assumes that the fawn's report is not something worth acting upon, based on the assumption that fawns are likely to confuse reality with imagination and to draw attention to themselves. 

As the dismissal of the fawn's warning is motivated by stereotypes usually associated with the young, it is a case of epistemic injustice. Not an isolated case either: mother deer reflects bitterly on the fact that in a very hierarchical society like theirs, the views of fawns and females are often openly disregarded, whereas the views by the dominant males are taken seriously. What are the effects of this?

In the story we see two types of effects. First, the fawn and his mother are saddened and disappointed by the deer's lack of consideration for what they have to say. We can imagine the fawn deciding not to warn his herd in the future for fear of being ignored and ridiculed. We can also imagine the fawn internalising his father's criticism and coming to consider himself as unreliable.

Second, father deer, who ignores the warning, is attacked and wounded by the mountain lion, who runs away only when the owl screeches loudly causing a commotion. Ignoring the warning caused him harm as he could not avail himself of important information that would have prevented the mountain lion's attack.

The story is so short that there is no time to explore the further consequences of the event and the development of its characters. However, it shows some interesting features of epistemic injustice, including the pervasive and harmful nature of unquestioned stereotypes and the fact that it harms the vulnerable person whose report is dismissed but also, more subtly, the powerful person who dismisses it.

Young people are often thought to be lazy, immature, lacking resilience, and seeking attention. They are often called "snowflakes" and "drama queens" in the press. These are not harmless stereotypes as they may affect the likelihood that we listen to what they have to say and take their testimony seriously. Their capacity to acquire and share knowledge is even more severely challenged when they experience mental health problems, as their reports may be taken to be a product of their illness as opposed to a reflection of their experiences.

This is what interests me about EPIC, our project on epistemic injustice in the healthcare context: how we can make sense of the dismissal of young people who experience mental health difficulties, and how we can stop it.

This post is by Lisa Bortolotti, who is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and an investigator in EPIC. Among other things, Lisa creates and gathers resources to bring philosophy to everyone at The Philosophy Garden, where you find the video of The Fawn and the Mountain Lion and other videos on a number of timely issues that deserve attention.