Part I - Macro vs. Microaggressions
“I am a Social Worker. I am not a Social Justice Warrior.”
That statement may make
some social workers squirm, and that is intended. The lot of us have become to
distracted by lines of language to see the full environment. We can’t see the
forest for the trees. Or in other words, we can’t pinpoint the aggression for
the microaggression.
I believe that we have
become too focused within our profession on the idea that microaggressions are
overly responsible for the erosion of an individual’s self-esteem or sense of
self-worth ( http://www.socialwork.career/2011/07/what-are-microaggressions.html ).
When this term was first
introduced, it was used to describe interactions between people that
purposefully (or otherwise) demeaned a “minority”, typically verbal exchanges.
More recently, the term has taken on a more generic meaning and has been
applied to everyday insults and superficial comments made from anyone in a
majority group to outside of that group, about anything disparaging (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201011/microaggressions-more-just-race ).
These “everyday
slights,” as they are often referred, are then stated to be the chisel that
gradually chips away at our mental health, causing depression, anxiety and
other issues.
As someone with a
life-long disability I have endured many of these microaggressions. While my
opinion of these is admittedly anecdotal, rather than empirical, my opinion
still stands: they are overblown, overemphasized by psychologists,
psychiatrists, and other medical professionals, and gobbled up by social
workers as the bullets that penetrate the self-worth and determination of our
disenfranchised populations. This medicalization and “clinicalization” of
trauma tends to focus more on the potential damage done to a person, rather
than their ability to overcome the trauma. Specifically, this approach to
“science” is socially constructed based on societal values (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15622970500483110?journalCode=iwbp20 ).
At any rate, personally, these glib comments have
barely held me back a moment, let alone a lifetime. Truth be told, they’ve done
nothing but strengthen me. They’ve been the fire that’s burned within me to
prove people wrong, to rise above.
Meanwhile, there are
millions of people in this world that deal with legitimate toxic trauma every
day. Sexual assault, physical assault, drug abuse and addiction, any and all
manner of victimization and many others...these are the areas where time and
energy and healing need to be focused.
