The Power Of Labels

The Power of Labelling illuminates a fundamental and intriguing dimension of social and political life. Striking cases from a range of policy contexts generate eyeopening analyses of labellings causes and consequences, uses and abuses, and of alternatives in thinking and relating. DES GASPER, INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES, THE HAGUE The authors convincingly and often vividly explain how the unavoidable framings and labellings of the objects of policy secrete relations of power which can obscure as much as they reveal and often lead, in policy itself, to perverse outcomes. Their detail is riveting, their analyses persuasive, what they suggest realistic and deeply sensible. This immensely readable collection is indispensable for anyone who wants to think about how they think about 'development', and should be forced on all who dont. GEOFFREY HAWTHORN, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE This is an essential book not only for those interested in understanding the development industry but also for development practitioners. It discusses key questions concerning the ways in which knowledge is generated by development agencies and reaffirms the importance of understanding who categorizes people, why and how. R. L. STIRRAT, PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX 'Very important.' Martin Kalungu-Banda, Oxfam GB What does it mean to be part of the mass known as The Poor? What visions are conjured up in our minds when someone is labelled Muslim? What assumptions do we make about their needs, values and politics? How do we react individually and as a society? Who develops the labels, what power do they carry and how do such labels affect how people are treated? This timely book tackles the critical and controversial issue of how people are labelled and categorized, and how their problems are framed and dealt with. Drawing on vast international experience and current theory, the authors examine how labels are constituted and applied by a variety of actors, including development policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The book exposes the intense and complex politics involved in processes of labelling, and highlights how the outcomes of labelling can undermine stated development goals. Importantly, one of the books principal objectives is to suggest how policy makers and professionals can tackle negative forms of labelling and encourage processes of counter-labelling, to enhance poverty reduction and human rights, and to tackle issues of race relations and global security. The Afterword encapsulates these ideas ands provides a good basis for reflection, further debate and action.

"Gestalt psychotherapist Beron, in her debut self-help book, examines the positive and negative impacts of being socially labeled and how such labels shape one's feelings, thoughts and behavior. "The power of labels is like an invisible pressure...which intercepts our thoughts and actions, distorts beyond recognition the mirror...and makes us vulnerable to the pain of the past and the fear of the future," asserts the author in the book's foreword. Although people may acquire labels at any age, Beron contends that most first appear in childhood and come from such sources as classmates, teachers, parents and friends. She briefly describes the Gestalt theory of psychotherapy, which emphasizes personal responsibility, and uses it as a basis for exploring ways that people may assume positive control over their lives. Beron reminds readers that people may be labeled in direct and indirect ways, with or without cruel intent, due to name-calling, nicknames or comparison to others. What's important, then, is how people believe such characterizations and how they become a part of their identities. In turn, those conceptions of identity influence people's thoughts and habits and may deter them from changing their lives. A helpful, hopeful and thorough guide that invites readers to change the images in their mirrors." KIRKUS Review "In The Power of Labels, a self-help book with an encouraging tone, Marsy Beron discusses a range of ways people label themselves or are labeled by others, and the detrimental psychological effects this can have on children and adults. Through a series of personal stories, Beron focuses on how labels are created for others by parents, coworkers, and spouses, and how that can influence people's perceptions of themselves and their environments. She relies on many anecdotal experiences, not only from her own life but also from her clients and group therapy work, to offer advice." CLARION Review

" ""Gestalt psychotherapist Beron, in her debut self-help book, examines the positive and negative impacts of being socially labeled and how such labels shape one's feelings, thoughts and behavior. ""The power of labels is like an invisible pressure...which intercepts our thoughts and actions, distorts beyond recognition the mirror...and makes us vulnerable to the pain of the past and the fear of the future,"" asserts the author in the book's foreword. Although people may acquire labels at any age, Beron contends that most first appear in childhood and come from such sources as classmates, teachers, parents and friends. She briefly describes the Gestalt theory of psychotherapy, which emphasizes personal responsibility, and uses it as a basis for exploring ways that people may assume positive control over their lives. Beron reminds readers that people may be labeled in direct and indirect ways, with or without cruel intent, due to name-calling, nicknames or comparison to others. What's important, then, is how people believe such characterizations and how they become a part of their identities. In turn, those conceptions of identity influence people's thoughts and habits and may deter them from changing their lives. A helpful, hopeful and thorough guide that invites readers to change the images in their mirrors."" -- KIRKUS Review ""In The Power of Labels, a self-help book with an encouraging tone, Marsy Beron discusses a range of ways people label themselves or are labeled by others, and the detrimental psychological effects this can have on children and adults. Through a series of personal stories, Beron focuses on how labels are created for others by parents, coworkers, and spouses, and how that can influence people's perceptions of themselves and their environments. She relies on many anecdotal experiences, not only from her own life but also from her clients and group therapy work, to offer advice."" --CLARION Review "

Disrupting the cycle starts with you. No matter how conscientious we are, we carry implicit bias... which quickly turns into assumptions and then labels. Labels define our interactions with and expectations of students. Labels contribute to student identity and agency. And labels can have a negative effect beyond the classroom. It’s crucial, then, that teachers remove labels and focus on students’ strengths—but this takes real work at an individual, classroom, and schoolwide scale. Removing Labels urges you to take an active approach toward disrupting the negative effects of labels and assumptions that interfere with student learning. This book offers: 40 practical, replicable teaching techniques—all based in research and best practice—that focus on building relationships, restructuring classroom engagement and management, and understanding the power of social and emotional learning Suggestions for actions on an individual, classroom, and schoolwide level Ready-to-go tools and student-facing printables to use in planning and instruction Removing Labels is more than a collection of teaching strategies—it’s a commitment to providing truly responsive education that serves all children. When you and your colleagues take action to prevent negative labels from taking hold, the whole community benefits.

'The Power of Labelling illuminates a fundamental and intriguing dimension of social and political life. Striking cases from a range of policy contexts generate eyeopening analyses of labelling's causes and consequences, uses and abuses, and of alternatives in thinking and relating.' DES GASPER, INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES, THE HAGUE The authors convincingly and often vividly explain how the unavoidable framings and labellings of the objects of policy secrete relations of power which can obscure as much as they reveal and often lead, in policy itself, to perverse outcomes. Their detail is riveting, their analyses persuasive, what they suggest realistic and deeply sensible. This immensely readable collection is indispensable for anyone who wants to think about how they think about 'development', and should be forced on all who don't.' GEOFFREY HAWTHORN, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE This is an essential book not only for those interested in understanding the development industry but also for development practitioners. It discusses key questions concerning the ways in which knowledge is generated by development agencies and reaffirms the importance of understanding who categorizes people, why and how.' R. L. STIRRAT, PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX 'Very important.' Martin Kalungu-Banda, Oxfam GB What does it mean to be part of the mass known as ?The Poor What visions are conjured up in our minds when someone is labelled ?Muslim What assumptions do we make about their needs, values and politics? How do we react individually and as a society? Who develops the labels, what power do they carry and how do such labels affect how people are treated? This timely book tackles the critical and controversial issue of how people are labelled and categorized, and how their problems are framed and dealt with. Drawing on vast international experience and current theory, the authors examine how labels are constituted and applied by a variety of actors, including development policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The book exposes the intense and complex politics involved in processes of labelling, and highlights how the outcomes of labelling can undermine stated development goals. Importantly, one of the book's principal objectives is to suggest how policy makers and professionals can tackle negative forms of labelling and encourage processes of ?counter-labelling?, to enhance poverty reduction and human rights, and to tackle issues of race relations and global security. The Afterword encapsulates these ideas ands provides a good basis for reflection, further debate and action.

The author of Impact uses this compilation of inspiring stories of disabled people to convey ten important life lessons to help anyone. This book reveals that people with disabilities are the invisible force that has shaped history. They have been instrumental in the growth of freedom and birth of democracy. They have produced heavenly music and exquisite works of art. They have unveiled the scientific secrets of the universe. They are among our most popular comedians, poets, and storytellers. And at 1.2 billion, they are also the largest minority group in the world. Al Etmanski offers ten lessons we can all learn from people with disabilities, illustrated with short, funny, inspiring, and thought-provoking stories of one hundred individuals from twenty countries. Some are familiar, like Michael J. Fox, Greta Thunberg, Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller, Stevie Wonder, and Temple Grandin. Others deserve to be, like Evelyn Glennie, a virtuoso percussionist who is deaf—her mission is to teach the world to listen to improve communication and social cohesion. Or Aaron Philip, who has revolutionized the runway as the first disabled, trans woman of color to become a professional model. The time has come to recognize people with disabilities for who they really are: authoritative sources on creativity, love, sexuality, resistance, dealing with adversity, and living a good life. “This book reminds us of what we have in common: the power to create a good life for ourselves and for others, no matter what the world has in store for us.” —Michael J. Fox “Hopefully the universal lessons in this book will not only empower all of us to trampoline to our highest potential but also move the global disability rights movement to achieve the success it fully deserves—so we can all live in a more just and equitable world.” —Susan Sygall, disability activist and MacArthur fellow “Etmanski engages every reader, whether new to the world of disability or an old hand, with thoughtful insights on the value of difference. This book made me laugh, made me cry, made me proud.” —Yazmine Laroche, former chair, Muscular Dystrophy Canada

"Don't Label Me should be labeled as genius. It's an amazing book." - Chris Rock A unique conversation about diversity, bigotry, and our common humanity, by the New York Times bestselling author, Oprah “Chutzpah” award-winner, and founder of the Moral Courage Project In these United States, discord has hit emergency levels. Civility isn't the reason to repair our caustic chasms. Diversity is. Don't Label Me shows that America's founding genius is diversity of thought. Which is why social justice activists won't win by labeling those who disagree with them. At a time when minorities are fast becoming the majority, a truly new America requires a new way to tribe out. Enter Irshad Manji and her dog, Lily. Raised to believe that dogs are evil, Manji overcame her fear of the "other" to adopt Lily. She got more than she bargained for. Defying her labels as an old, blind dog, Lily engages Manji in a taboo-busting conversation about identity, power, and politics. They're feisty. They're funny. And in working through their challenges to one another, they reveal how to open the hearts of opponents for the sake of enduring progress. Readers who crave concrete tips will be delighted. Studded with insights from epigenetics and epistemology, layered with the lessons of Bruce Lee, Ben Franklin, and Audre Lorde, punctuated with stories about Manji's own experiences as a refugee from Africa, a Muslim immigrant to the U.S., and a professor of moral courage, Don't Label Me makes diversity great again.

The second edition of A Handbook for the Study of Mental Health provides a comprehensive review of the sociology of mental health. Chapters by leading scholars and researchers present an overview of historical, social and institutional frameworks. Part I examines social factors that shape psychiatric diagnosis and the measurement of mental health and illness, theories that explain the definition and treatment of mental disorders and cultural variability. Part II investigates effects of social context, considering class, gender, race and age, and the critical role played by stress, marriage, work and social support. Part III focuses on the organization, delivery and evaluation of mental health services, including the criminalization of mental illness, the challenges posed by HIV, and the importance of stigma. This is a key research reference source that will be useful to both undergraduates and graduate students studying mental health and illness from any number of disciplines.