Year 3 Report: Public involvement in the health-care decisions making, A Social Psychological Report about the NHS Protests in March 2017
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Public involvement in the health-care decisions making
A Social Psychological Report about the NHS Protests in March 2017
Abstract
The aim of the report is to analyse the protests of 2017 in favour of the NHS from a social psychology perspective. BBC articles were used to analyse the demonstrator’s discourse through the prism of a couple of theories of participation in protest, such as social identity theory, relative deprivation theory, resource mobilisation theory. The findings are that protesters share an identity of good citizens and they think that political action is their duty. The recommendation is to deal with the demonstrators in a way in which their needs are met, otherwise it is very likely for the protests in favour of the NHS to keep reoccurring or to amplify.
1. Introduction
1.1. The aims of the report
This report provides a social psychology perspective on the protests of March 2017 in favour of the NHS. The purpose of this research is to provide an understanding of the identity of the protesters that gathered in London on the 4 March 2017, their motivations to participate and their goals.
1.2. The social psychology perspective on protests
Although protests can be seen as disruptive, sometimes the demonstrators think that participating in a protest is a duty to defend their rights as citizens (University, 2017). A part of the school curriculum in England is to teach young people that participating in political action is a responsibility (Clarke, 2005, cited in Andreouli & Manning, 2017, p. 253). The research in social psychology regarding protests offers insights into protest participation, answering to question such as who are the demonstrators? What motivates people to participate?
The people who protested in favour of the NHS come from different backgrounds and at first glance it might seem that it is a heterogeneous crowd from all over the UK of different education, age and nationality. Social psychology research shows that individuals’ identity is influenced by the situation they are in (van Zomeren, 2017, p. 282). In the context of the NHS protests, people’s identity as citizens became dominant, as the protesters view themselves as good citizens protecting the NHS. Public participation is seen as a good thing (Cornwall, 2008, cited in Gary & Manning, 2017, p. 316)
Based on empirical research, social psychologists developed theories that help understand the protests, for example
• social identity theory (Van Zomeran, 2017) explains that in order for the protests to take place members of the group need to share a common identity and their position needs to be 1. “unstable”, 2. “illegitimate” and 3. “impermeable” (Van Zomeran, 2017, p. 283) (for a detailed explanation and examples see Findings, p. 4).
• relative deprivation theory emphasises that participation in protests arises from the subjective feeling of injustice people feel (Van Zomeran, 2017)
• resource mobilisation theory shows that demonstrators are rational actors who do a cost-benefit analysis before participating to protest. The resources are not only tangible ones, such as money or time, but also moral and cultural resources (Edwards, 2008, p. 786)
• and, social identity model of collective action (SIMCA), (University, 2017, b) offers a model that integrates elements of the social identity theory and relative deprivation theory.
2. Methodology
The present report uses social psychology theory and research to analyse the discourse of the protesters in favour of the NHS as presented by the BBC.
3. Findings
3.1. The identity of the protesters
In order to understand the protests in favour of the NHS it is useful to know who are the demonstrators and what brought them together in Tavistock Square on the 4 March 2017. Social psychology explains that people object to perceived “group-based injustice” (Hogg, 2007). According to the BBC (2017, a) people of different backgrounds took part in the demonstration: nurses, doctors, a teacher, a writer, politicians. Even if the protesters are individuals of diverse ethnicity, age, education, they see themselves as members of the same group - citizens who benefited from the NHS, which is, according to a demonstrator “the greatest gift the people of this country have created” (BBC, 2013, a). The social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner (1979), cited in Van Zomeren, 2017, p. 281) proposes that members of one group take political action when their position is 1. “unstable”, 2. “illegitimate” and 3. “impermeable” (Van Zomeran, 2017, p. 283) - meaning that the only way people can improve their situation is if they act together as a group.
• The unstable situation of the NHS emerges from “potentially radical changes” due to take place at the end of March (Pym, 2017). New legislation regarding sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) (Pym, 2016) could lead to hospital cuts, forcing some patients to be treated at home. The NHS would be split into 44 areas that would self-manage their finances and £22bn would be saved over the course of 5 years.
• The feeling that the new legislation regarding the NHS is perceived by the protesters as illegitimate. People consider that the NHS is a public institution. Big signs the demonstrators carry say “People before profit. Save our NHS” (BBC, 2017, a). Also, on social media demonstrators argue that Tories are “destroying the greatest gift the people of this country have created”. Therefore, the British citizens consider that the NHS should serve the interest of people and it should be free from privatisation and cuts.
• The protesters in favour of the NHS see the politicians as an out-group that is “impermeable” and they feel that a change in legislation for the better can be done only if they join forces together. People consider that “It is not the fault of the staff. It is the fault of a government who made a political choice” (BBC, 2017, a).
3.2. Protest participation
The ‘hospital cuts’ represent a threat for all the people of the UK who benefitted or might benefit from treatment in the NHS. Two social psychology theories are very useful in explaining protest participation: 1. relative deprivation theory (RDT) and 2. resource mobilisation theory (RMT) (Van Zomeren, 2017, p. 278, 280).
• According to the RDT, people engage in protest when they feel treated unfairly. In the case of the NHS protests, demonstrators compare their new rights as NHS patients with how this public institution used to be in the past and now, they feel worse off and that NHS services “are on their knees” (BBC, 2017, a). As the theory suggests, people’s feelings do not always need to be rational or right. It is the perception of feeling deprived that motivates people to participate.
• The RMT focuses on the factors that motivate people to protest. RMT considers that individuals are rational in their decision to take political action, they analyse the costs and benefits, and they protest if they think that their actions are effective. It is noteworthy that in the protests for the NHS there were 150 coaches, bringing people from all over UK (BBC, 2017, a). The fact that so many people came together in support of the NHS demonstrate how important it is for people to stop the new legislation regarding further cuts to public health. The resources are not only physical or tangible ones, but also moral and cultural. People know the history of the NHS and what it represents in the UK.
3.3. The goals and objectives of the demonstrators
The reasons why people took part in the protests are personal, but they all have the same objective - “to make a difference” and “to make their voices heard”. Young people also think they “can make a change”. One woman is an immigrant and a nurse. She worked in a different health system before and she knows that if people have to pay for health and they do not afford, they die. The reason why she takes part in the protest is because she does not want the NHS to become a health system where people have to pay for their care. Regardless of their personal histories with the NHS the common goal of the protesters is to protect the NHS from privatisation and to keep it accessible to everybody. The people see “collective action” as the means to accomplish their goals. They hope that “one million people can make a difference”. The social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) (University, b) is a theory in social psychology that predicts that people protest when they feel a perceived injustice, when they have a strong feeling of group identity and when they think that their actions will lead to good results.
4. Conclusions
• The protesters in favour of the NHS might be seen as disobedient and disruptive, but they participate in good faith, thinking that it is their duty to take political action.
• The participants come from different background in terms of education, age, gender and nationality but they are united by their identity as good citizens. The feeling of injustice is dominant, and the demonstrators feel that they have to protect the NHS from the new legislation that threatens to change it for the worse.
• The people involved in the protests feel they can be effective as a group, and their numbers can give them the power to support the NHS.
5. Recommendations
• It is very likely for the protests in favour of the NHS to keep reoccurring or to amplify if the needs of the people are not met. According to social psychology research people see it as their duty to protest when governments take decisions that are seen as illegitimate and unjust.
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