The 'demented other' or simply 'a person'? Extending the philosophical discourse of Naue and Kroll through the situated self

Sabat, Steven R. and Johnson, Ann and Swarbrick, Caroline and Keady, John (2011) The 'demented other' or simply 'a person'? Extending the philosophical discourse of Naue and Kroll through the situated self. Nursing Philosophy, 12 (4). pp. 282-292. ISSN 1466-7681

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Abstract

This article presents a critique of an article previously featured in Nursing Philosophy (10: 26-33) by Ursula Naue and Thilo Kroll, who suggested that people living with dementia are assigned a negative status upon receipt of a diagnosis, holding the identity of the 'demented other'. Specifically, in this critique, we suggest that unwitting use of the adjective 'demented' to define a person living with the condition is ill-informed and runs a risk of defining people through negative (self-)attributes, which has a deleterious impact upon that person's social and relational personae. Moreover, use of the locution 'demented' reinforces a divide between the 'demented' (them) and the 'healthy others' (us). Social constructionist theory, malignant positioning and viewing people with dementia as semiotic subjects are the philosophical pillars through which we construct the main arguments of the critique. The article concludes with the voice of one of the authors, a younger person with dementia, asking for language in dementia care to be carefully reconsidered and reframed and for the recognition of the diagnosed person's agency in the conduct of their day-to-day lives. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Nursing Philosophy
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2900/2910
Subjects:
?? dementeddementialived experienceperson-centredselfsocial positioningissues, ethics and legal aspectsresearch and theory ??
ID Code:
132242
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
02 Apr 2019 08:15
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
28 Nov 2023 11:30