Michael,
>> or incompetent to consent. This is done (in theory)
>with the intention of protection, not harm.
How is it enforced?<<<
If someone lives in an institutionalized setting they can be prevented from
having any privacy. People who live in group homes most frequently share
bedrooms. Many are always under direct supervision whenever outside the
home. If they are dependent upon another to provide transportation,
transportation to meet with someone can be denied.
I'll give you a specific example. Tonight at group we discussed personal
privacy. D-- said she had none. I said isn't your bedroom private - she
said "no, the home staff walk in any time they want." I asked her if they
knocked - she said no. I then said isn't your bathroom private? She said no
they walk in there too. M-- chimed in and said his staff did so too. I
asked him why? "They think I might fall in the tub so they come in every
five minutes." (This seems a totally unrealistic fear to me.)
Later I drove D--home. I asked her to tell me more about what it was like
to live in her house. She said "it drives me crazy...It's like a prison...
The only time I can see my boyfriend is at work... He doesn't call me at
home because the staff listen to the calls and report what we say." I asked
her what would happen if her boyfriend just showed up at the house - "they
wouldn't let him in." What if you went to his house? "His staff would
call mine and I would get a report." What happens when you get a report?
"I don't get my pocket money." How much pocket money do you get? "$10.00 a
week."
( I told D-- about this listserv and this message thread and I asked her if
it would be OK to quote her. She said " of, course, anything to help my
life get better." )
>>A person who is found to be partially consenting may
>have specific areas of freedom or lack of.
Can you explain this e.g. will they only be able to engage in certain
sexual behaviours, with certain people, in certain places..? <<
Yes, some group homes have been known to move residents to new homes when
they have become sexually involved with a housemate and it was not an
"approved" relationship.
Some people have been considered capable of a dating relationship, but not
a sexual one. People who enter into same-sex relationships are often moved
to new group homes.
>>If you accept that "freedom to consent" can be removed, are you not by
definition saying that person IS CAPABLE of consent<< I do not accept that
freedom to consent can be removed - except in very finite situations. I
find the whole thing to be reprehensible. But the fact of the matter is
that people are denied sexual freedom.
>>I am working at present with six adults in their 40s who have been
>determined to be sexually incompetent<< They flunked the test at some
point in their life - and until someone decides to give them the test again
sexually incompetent they will stay.
>>First I tested them. They all failed the test.
How do you define/measure failure?<<
I gave them the same test they were given that established their
incompetency. They failed the test according to the norms set. I can hate
this test (and its norms) all I like, but at present this is the test that
was used and I can't change that. I only wanted to duplicate the previous
results ( one was last taken 21 years ago) to set an up-to-date baseline.
>> In a testing situation it is difficult to retrieve information that you
>do not use on demand. When the portions of the test failed were given one
>week later all persons were able to answer questions they had no answer to
>before. Could you explain this?<<
If you were taught something 20 years ago and never had opportunity to use
the information in your daily life how easy to you think it would be to
retrieve from your memory bank? I got an A in geometry when I was 16 - 30
years later I would fail any geometry test given me. But give me a few
hours to review and I bet I could ace it.
>>Does this not hint loud and clear at what the real issues may be i.e.
previous lack of information given in a way that is understandable and
accessible regarding self awareness of their own bodies and sexual
feelings for others etc Maybe it is this factor that needs to be
addressed in research?<< Hint? Yes, if being hit with a cement brick is
considered a hint. That is why I am starting at documenting what knowledge
these specific people have now in the same manner it has been documented
before. Then I am spending fifteen weeks teaching them in ways that are
meaningful (I hope) to them what they need to know in order to make
informed sexual decisions. Then I will retest them.
If they pass the test - then I push for more sexuality education.
If they fail the test (and I am confident that they are capable of informed
consent) I will push for a different method of assessment.
>>My gut reaction is that some critical reflections are needed on the
ethics/practicalities of such an (oppressive?) policy in the first
place.<< I couldn't agree more. But, if I attack the policy and am
excluded from further conversations, I will have accomplished nothing.
Instead I am trying to opportunity and education can be found to be
capable of informed sexual consent. It is my hope that their responsible
sexual activity will demonstrate the oppressive, tyrannical policy for what
it is and that they can be the voice who demand it change.
The proof is in the pudding.
When I left D-- tonight at her house I wanted to tell her I would fix
things for her. That I would demand that she be given privacy in her
bathroom. That none would listen in on her phone calls again. That she
would be allowed to visit her boyfriend whenever she wanted. But I knew
those would be empty promises. Instead I promised to take her out for ice
cream the next day. She left me by saying, "It really helps to talk to you
about this stuff,it makes me feel better, sometimes I don't think I want to
live another day." I left her overwhelmed with sadness.
Susan
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