Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa.
Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa.
Scand J Occup Ther. 2024 Jan;31(1):2264330. doi: 10.1080/11038128.2023.2264330. Epub 2023 Nov 7.
In the Global North, advances in occupational therapy benefitted unduly from the oppression, disablement and suffering of thousands of people in the South (and beyond). To prevent the recurrence of these injustices, history must be unveiled and occupational therapists urged to come to terms with their own involvement and responsibility.
Utilising Achille Mbembe's concept of , this academic essay blends select historical and philosophical perspectives to explore occupational therapy's concealed role in manifestations of institutionalised violence.
By examining its roles in World War II and France's colonisation of Algeria, we make visible the development of occupational therapy's distinct 'shadow side'. In Nazi Germany's Euthanasia Programme, it became a tool for identifying which lives were deemed 'worthy of living' and which were not, which indirectly contributed to the killing of 200,000 disabled persons. Under France's colonial medical system, occupational therapy imposed Western standards that alienated and completely depersonalised Algerian patients.
Entrenched in a (bio)economy that has endured beyond these events, occupational therapists must exercise vigilance, remaining mindful of the potential to unintentionally overlook individuals labelled as 'unproductive'. This requires confronting the profession's assumptions of inherent 'goodness' and acknowledging and addressing its shadow side.
在全球北方，职业治疗的进步过于受益于南方（及其他地区）数千人所遭受的压迫、残疾和苦难。为了防止这些不公正现象再次发生，必须揭示历史，促使职业治疗师正视自己的参与和责任。
本文运用阿契尔·姆贝的概念，融合了历史和哲学的观点，探讨了职业治疗在制度化暴力表现中的隐性作用。
通过考察职业治疗在第二次世界大战和法国殖民阿尔及利亚中的角色，我们揭示了职业治疗独特的“阴暗面”的发展。在纳粹德国的安乐死计划中，它成为了一种识别哪些生命被认为“值得活下去”，哪些生命不值得活下去的工具，这间接导致了 20 万残疾人的死亡。在法国殖民医疗体系下，职业治疗强加了西方标准，使阿尔及利亚患者感到疏远和完全失去个性。
职业治疗师在一个（生物）经济体系中根深蒂固，这个体系从这些事件中幸存下来，他们必须保持警惕，时刻注意可能无意识地忽视那些被贴上“无生产力”标签的人。这需要职业治疗师正视该专业固有的“善”的假设，并承认和解决其阴暗面。
