A recent editorial by Ruth McCambridge at Nonprofit Quarterly really resonated with me. In it she laments the standard practice of many nonprofit executives who use “othering” language when talking about their clients. She says this practice is “a regressive blast from the past, full of words and phrases that are coded shortcuts to narratives that do social harm.” In other words, using phrases like “substance abusers” and “the addicted” stigmatizes and generalizes a whole group of people, causing social and mental harm.
I completely agree. At LSS, we wrote person-first language rules into our brand style guide and teach it at every brand training. It’s a critical part of our mission and our values. We pride ourselves on treating our clients with dignity and respect. Our clients are partners, not projects. I like to say that our clients are not defined by the moment in time that brings them to us. They are diverse, complicated, beautiful individuals and minimizing them as “the homeless” or “the hungry” or “the abused” is stigmatizing and harmful. It’s more accurate to say “neighbors experiencing homelessness” or “families dealing with food insecurity”. See how much better that is?
It’s also important to make sure we are clear about what it is we do as a social service agency. Raising awareness for the issues that are important to our clients is a huge part of our job. Their stories need to be heard. Not the stories of LSS and their services, the stories of our clients. That means addressing issues that used to be swept under the rug or minimized as family situations like intimate partner violence (it’s a crime, not a family quarrel) and drug or alcohol addiction (not a weakness, it’s a disease). The more understanding we as a society have about the situations our clients face, the better chance they have of lifting themselves out of those situations.
It takes vigilance to maintain these best practices. The use of standard minimizing language is prevalent across the industry, mainly because it’s easier. But we work hard to make sure that every direct mail appeal, every social media post, every web page, every press release and every speech given by our staff are person-first and inclusive. When I explain to our staff members why we follow person-centered language practices, they instinctively understand how important it is. They see every day how strong, resilient and worthy of respect are clients are. But it’s still hard to break the cycle. We must continue to remain vigilant. It’s important to our clients, their futures, and our mission to create a better world by serving people in need.
