The systemic and shameful neglect of people with learning disabilities has been exposed in a powerful new book by a Manchester Met professor known for her high-profile campaigning on the issue.
Launched yesterday (September 10), Prof Sara Ryan’s Critical Health and Learning Disabilities: an Exploration of Erasure and Social Murder(Routledge) argues that people with learning disabilities are experiencing ‘social murder’ because the conditions leading to their deaths are known about, yet nothing is being done to change the situation.
A call to arms to policy makers, academics and all of society, the book draws on Prof Ryan’s years of academic research and first-hand work with people with learning disabilities, as well as her personal experience after her son Connor’s preventable death at an NHS unit.
Through an exploration of healthcare, love and intimacy, pregnancy and childbirth, housing, employment and food, the book highlights the enduringly impoverished lives and premature deaths people with learning disabilities experience globally and suggests this amounts to social murder.
The publication’s official launch event at the People’s History Museum in Manchester included a panel discussion on these issues with journalist Dr George Julian, known for her coverage of inquests, Prof Sujeet Jaydeokar, Director of CANDDID at Cheshire and Wirral NHS Partnership Trust, and author and disaster expert Lucy Easthope, who described the book as “one of the bravest, most necessarily turbulent books on my shelf”. It was chaired by two people with learning disabilities, Beth Richards and Shaun Picken.
Also in attendance was Eve Holt, Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Head of Policy and Implementation, who responded on what can be done in the region to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities. Holt described her frustration with dehumanising policy and narratives, and underlined the commitment of GMCA to coproduction, and the role of participatory politics to challenge power.
Friedrich Engels in 1845, the term ‘social murder’ describes premature deaths caused by exploitative social, economic, and political conditions, particularly within capitalist systems. Speaking on the concept, Prof Ryan said: “The book offers a careful and meticulous path documenting the evidence for the central social murder argument; that is, the conditions that lead to preventable deaths are well documented and known about and yet the state does nothing to change this.
“This book is important and timely in the current context of further welfare cuts. It offers the incontrovertible evidence of repeatedly shortened lives and countless other injustices experienced by people with learning disabilities.”
Prof Ryan’s son Connor’s preventable death while in NHS care 12 years ago sparked a nationwide campaign, leading to legal findings of serious failings in his care, plus a start to changes in the way that people with learning disabilities are cared for.
The events inspired a highly acclaimed West End play, Laughing Boy, which was based on Connor’s life, the aftermath of his untimely death, and his legacy.
Prof Ryan is a leading figure in health and social care research and her studies on how to better support people with learning disabilities have been highlighted in government policy.
She said: “The ignorance demonstrated by health and social care professionals, policy makers, politicians, academics and many other social actors may be unintentional, however, it is still inexcusable. I hope that this book goes some way to highlight these failings and helps lead to meaningful change and fresh hope for people with learning disabilities.”
