The Danger of Labeling

What is the first thing that happens right after someone is released from a rehab center or prison? "Labels" start to be stamped on his forehead so the community or the people around him. One reason why we really much like to use labels to organize people around us is that it is easier to manage information about them. Humans are more likely to categorize and labels things because, well, it is more organized, isn't it? To some extent, categorizations and labels can be beneficial. It is a way to ensure the doctors give the right medication for different types of ailment (cold fever, sore throat, gastric, etc). It is a way to give different treatment to different kind of a teacher's pupils (demotivated, bright, active, etc). And many other instances where categorization and "labels" can help us in identifying how a thing works and how to respond to it.

But all this is provided if we use labels wisely and informatively. An ignorant way of using label is when this is going too far and to backfire. People in the community usually use labels to make it easier for them to know how to act around a certain type of people or things. They are more likely to avoid buying food from "the poor" because of the expectation on the hygiene. They are more likely to desire to be like "celebrities" because they are popular. They are more likely to think that security guards are "uneducated". They are more likely to say that a woman who marries someone significantly older because of "his money." They are more likely to prevent from socializing with an ex-con because he might "fall back into the same patterns all over again." (And a certain blogger uses a "he" as an automatic pronoun whenever talking about an ex-con).And bla, bla, bla, bla...

You see, in this condition, we see what we want to see, and labels work in the same way (which explains self-fulfilling prophecy). When you have a certain expectation toward a person, even if you try not to say it aloud, your body language and way of speaking can scream the same thing just as effectively. The other person, already smelling our 'expectations,' slowly acting in accordance to what we expect. So, if we think a person is nice, he or she is more likely to act nice around us, and if we think a person is bad, he or she is more likely to act bad around us. This is one of the contributing factors of an ex-prisoner and ex-addict to experience relapse. Because their thinking on all this is that "they already think that I'm bad, so just act bad."

If you know someone who has been in an institution, try to have an open arm welcoming him or her into the community. The question of "should be careful" should not arise because it's the same issue with everyone, be they ex-prisoners or not. Meaning to say, we have to exercise a certain level of security and wariness to everyone (but not to the level of paranoia). This can therapeutically help in preventing from the same mishaps. If it happens to us, aren't we desperate for a second chance?