Deaf Tall Poppy Syndrome

By Claire Raisin, Richard Townshend

This presentation is an insight into New Zealand’s Deaf Community and how Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS) has an impact on people’s lifestyle. Tall Poppy Syndrome is a term that is used to describe people who have the potential to be successful but can be put down by a small community. This is also known as ‘professional jealousy’. Within the Deaf Community there are people that lack confidence and have low self esteem and this can lead to mental health problems. This dilemma is affecting people across the border and sabotaging ambitions and dreams through lack of role modeling in the Deaf community. Through education/intervention and awareness mental health issues could be reduced with the help of professionals and role models to find ways of diminishing the problem. If change is created in the future more people will succeed, there will be more leaders, role models and people achieving their ambitions and dreams. This will not change everyone’s view of TPS but we need to think about our future young generation and hopefully see a gradual decrease of TPS within our Deaf community.

New Zealand is at the bottom of the atlas. There are two main islands – North and South as well as a number of smaller islands. There are approximately 4,061,300 (June 2004) people in New Zealand. New Zealand is made up of:

• New Zealand European 75.7%
• New Zealand Maori 13.9%
• Pacific Island Polynesian 6.1%
• Asian 6.3%
• Other 0.7%

New Zealand is also known as ‘Aotearoa’ which means ‘Land of the long white cloud’ to the Maori, the indigenous people – New Zealand’s first settlers and the tangata whenua {people of the land}).

From the Statistics of the New Zealand Census in 2001 there was an estimated 223,500 adults that were D/deaf or had a hearing limitation that could not be eliminated by a hearing aid in 2001. This includes people with some level of hearing limitation, which makes it difficult for them to hear a conversation with another person or with a group of people, as well as people who are totally Deaf.

An overview of numbers of Deaf people:

• There are 2 Deaf schools in New Zealand – van Asch Deaf Education Centre in Christchurch and Kelston Deaf Education Centre in Auckland.

• They teach in either NZSL, bilingual class, oral or signed English.
• There is a Cochlear Implant Unit on campus at van Asch Deaf Education Centre to help programme/maintenance progress of C.I. school students
• At present in May 2004, there are 34 Deaf students at van Asch Deaf Education Centre
• In May 2004 there are 62 mainstreamed Deaf children in Canterbury who are seeing an itinerant teacher

• There are approximately 20-30 Culturally Deaf people qualified with degrees in New Zealand
• There are approximately 500 Deaf people in Christchurch area.
• In April 2004 there was a total of 129 Deaf club members in Christchurch.
• In Christchurch at this time, there are only 2 qualified interpreters and 1 communicator (one without formal qualifications) working with the Deaf community.

Dictionary meaning of tall poppy syndrome:

The New Zealand habit of denigrating or ‘cutting down’ those who are successful or who are high achievers etc. (The New Zealand Oxford Paperback Dictionary, 1998).

In other countries the slang word is also known as:

America – "Crab theory" – the operative word for that is "jealousy"
Australia and New Zealand – "Tall poppy syndrome"
Japan - "the post (pole) that is higher will be hit back into place"

From an early age, striving to do better than one’s peers is liable to be met with disapproval and "Tall Poppies" are ruthlessly cut down to size.

From an overseas perspective about Tall Poppy Syndrome, when people gossip about successful Deaf people, our whole community suffers. "Crab Theory," by Deaf Life editor Matthew S. Moore, refers to the destructive practice of Deaf people pulling and putting down successful Deaf persons. This is done through vicious gossip (back-stabbing), spreading false rumors (slander), sending hateful e-mails, etc. it’s based on a real-life phenomenon: when crabs are captured and tossed into a bucket. If one crab tries to escape by crawling up the inside of the bucket, the other crabs pull it back down. It’s probably instinctive, a panic response on their part. So no crabs ever escape. This behaviour in crabs is widely held to be a myth, but has been observed (Lala, 2004).

There is a lot of pressure for those Deaf professionals working in the core of the Deaf community. In an example from Berlings readings, an instructor was extremely popular with the students. He was a very poor teacher even though the subject taught was straightforward and he could not apply what he taught to be used in a situation in real life, the students really liked him so much that he was just ‘one of them’. He maintained full social contacts with many of the recent school alumni, and unfortunately, rumors of wild parties, marijuana and alcohol use filtered down to the high school level. This is one that constitutes a leader of the Deaf. The students regarded him as ‘open-minded’. This advocated subtly the use of drugs, unethical behaviour and lowered expectations, established for the deaf students the ‘normalcy’ of this type of behaviour.

Living and working in the core of the Deaf community, Deaf professionals have to make a decision about their choices of friends and when it is appropriate to socialize due to the size of the community and other people observing professionals’ behaviour. This often leads others to talk and eventually things get twisted and bitter. The professional then has to work much harder to repair the damage and put things straight.

"After working in a hearing environment, I started working for the Deaf community. Almost immediately, my contacts with the Deaf people changed because I know too much about their personal issues and I was wearing my "work" hat 24/7.

There are times, I could not socialize at any Deaf functions or at a Deaf Club because Deaf Adults or hearing people would talk "shop" or ask information relating to my work. They may shy away because they think I am watching them or feel uncomfortable talking to me because of my work and do not want to be seen talking to me in case other people "think they have a problem"?

The job itself has destroyed a few marriages because it is so stressful and you are "married" to the job. It has destroyed one of my relationships that I had with a Deaf person and now I am in a long-term relationship with my hearing partner who is not involved with my Deaf world. I find it is easier to keep it separated and live in a hearing world but there are times I crave for Deaf friends to give me a sense of balance with life in a Deaf AND hearing world in which I live in and work with 24/7." (Deaf woman in New Zealand, 2004)

I have taken some text from different Deaf people and comments they have made.

"My feeling towards the Community is that I’m Deaf and you’re Deaf. We’re the same. I’m Deaf, it’s what I am. It’s a feeling. We have an affinity" (Townshend 2000)."

"My family is the Deaf. I’ve got sixty, seventy, eighty brothers and sisters. It doesn’t matter about the different levels of communication or the moaning or the fighting or arguing. Five minutes later, we’re okay. Even back-stabbing, next day, "fine!" We’re Deaf, together. We never give up on each other; we’re always friends and we stick together. We’re fine. I’m proud of the Deaf" (Townshend 2000).

"I have tried to mix with the Deaf community but because of how they behave, I won’t go down to their level therefore I won’t mix with them"

"I’ve noticed that successful deaf persons are always put down by other deaf people, by means of lack of support and gossip – back-stabbing, name-calling, nasty rumors. Can’t deaf people appreciate successful achievers who benefit their community?" (Moore.1993)

One comment indicated that some Deaf people have a fearful, stigmatizing and uninformed response to mental illness:

"……… when people have problems I don’t get involved, I won’t help them. I just want to be comfortable by myself. I’m sure there are people out there but I don’t help them, the person who created the problem should be dealing with it not me because if I get involved it will get worse and I’ll take on their worry, and I don’t need to. I need to look after myself and my family."

Internalized oppression is most apparent in the area of relationships gone sour. Here are examples of bitterness and absence of trust leading (claimed some Deaf participants) to mental illness:

"I think Deaf people gossip too much, I’m not really sure but I find it hard facing up to other people, so there’s a lot of stuff going on behind your back, you can’t catch who said what, you don’t know if it’s true or false – there’s no proof of that – whether it’s somebody else’s problem or my problem."

"Some Deaf people have two faces, back-stabbing."

"Stress can be caused through outside sources, through internal hurt, could be through gossip or back-stabbing."

"Most talk about bullshit ego – two faces."

These comments reflect the reality of living in small communities where your business can easily become everybody’s business and the great need to find other solutions to the impacts of hearing oppression other than lashing out at friends and fellow members of one’s community. Internalized oppression is a self-deceiving attempt on the part of the deaf person to "step out from the underneath the internalized self hate enough to feel good about themselves" (Kaiser, 1990).

Not widely known to the outside world as the deaf community deliberately shield certain information from them, is the unfortunate prevalence of gossip, back-stabbing and rumor mongering that would be a real eye-opener to those new to the deaf community. One Deaf writer classifies gossip as one of the mainstays of the deaf community. He also states many Culturally-Deaf people are lacking in dreams and ambition. Lowered expectations have a lot to do with this. Jealousy seems to be another reason these conditions exist.

Deaf people who are on the benefit sit around and socialize with other Deaf people. These are comments from those who are on the benefit asking Deaf people:

"Why you not work?"
"Work what for? Waste time – better on benefits"

Drugs and alcohol play a big part in a Deaf person’s life.

Often you hear Deaf people say they wish they were hearing for various reasons: Some reasons being from their perspective that hearing culture is better than Deaf culture. Being Deaf, if you are unable to follow a "hearing conversation", Deaf people often perceive this being the fact, hearing people don’t have the same problems putting up with Tall Poppy Syndrome among their community and the "hearing" community being a large one. As we all know, the Deaf community is very small, hearing people can choose to leave the group and join another one. It is much more difficult for Deaf people to leave the group. If a Deaf person leaves the Deaf community and joins the hearing community they often become isolated in the hearing world. It could lead to mental health issues if they choose to do that.

The community has been described by different people as being a ‘solidarity’ and group loyalties has made the deaf community into a rigid conformist society. Sadly, in the Deaf community, one of the things discussed is how one is able to get more services and ‘benefits,’ than any discussion on becoming self-sustaining or how one can become a contributor to society.

There are many reasons that explain why some Deaf people feel oppressed or rejected by the wider community.

Such examples are

• Communication barriers within their families and partners
• Poor Education
• Negative attitudes of wider society towards Deaf people
• Lack of Social skills taught growing up

These situations lead to feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness for most of a Deaf person’s life. This can lead to ‘internalized oppression" (Kaiser, 1990). Kaiser explains that internalized oppression arises from psychological and/or physical disability and is the "repeated stereotypes and lies" used by members of the disabled group to justify the group’s oppression.

There are many Leaders of the Deaf community who often are culturally Deaf people who try to create changes within the deaf community. There are also esteemed members of the deaf community not having any official position. Often vulnerable Deaf people look up to some of these leaders and follow whatever they are offering so they can continue to fit in within their circle. From Bertlings reading here are many leaders who are good, but often take the position of reflecting the attitudes of the Deaf community that put them in power. Their actions and views might not necessarily be their own.

While the positive attributes of a Deaf community are attractive to many Deaf people (mostly, the close-knit, family-like social atmosphere), there is a flip side to the same coin which can be destructive to the Deaf person. Below is a negative and positive cycle that plays a part in the community.

The Negative Cycle is a process of failure and frustration – perhaps from poor education leading to poor communication, lack of understanding, bad attitudes, resentment, lack of confidence and isolation.

The Positive Cycle is the process of transforming the individual by satisfactory communication leading to understanding, better attitudes, inclusion in the community and happiness (Dugdale, 2001).

• Not enough encouragement.
• The ‘Role reverse’ has not been reinforced enough with the Deaf community. There is no respect for others – an example shown below:

Deaf person 1 "Claire Raisin not good enough"

Deaf person 2 "How do you know?"

Deaf person 1 " Deaf tell me"

Deaf person 2 "You finish work with Claire?"

Deaf person 1 "No, not need, friend finish, tell me about her"

Deaf person 2 "How will you feel if someone say the same about you? Pretend others talk about you, You think people are right?"

Deaf person 1 often stops and thinks about how they will feel being treated that way.

• Deaf adults missing out on the natural tendencies that hearing people learnt growing up of what was acceptable and not acceptable social behaviours from other role models.

There needs to be more discussion among Deaf and hearing people in the world working in partnership to break down barriers and to work in an effective way to produce results for Deaf people.

More Deaf awareness needs to be taught to both Deaf and hearing professionals and the community.

Deaf Professionals need to educate Deaf leaders to teach others.

There needs to be a support group for parents of newborn babies diagnosed as being Deaf.

Everyone needs to push the message "DEAF PEOPLE CAN DO ANYTHING EXCEPT HEAR"

To end this presentation, Please take a moment to reflect on our future generations of all Deaf children to come from the song sung by Whitney Houston – "The Greatest Love of All’

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Central Intelligence Agency. The World Fact Book. Retrieved April 19, 2004, from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nz.html#Issues

Deverson, Tony. (1998). The New Zealand Oxford Paperback Dictionary; The New Zealand Standard Encyclopedic content. Auckland; Oxford University Press

Dugdale, Pat. (2001). Talking Hands, Listening Eyes. Wellington: Astra Print

Houston, Whitney. (1995). The Greatest Love of All. Song retrieved June 2004 from http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/whitneyhouston.htm

Lala, (2003). Malicious Lies: Slander and Gossip in the Deaf Community retrieved June 2004 from http://www.deaftoday.com/news/archives/002581.html

Moore, Matthew S. & Levitan, Linda. (1993). For Hearing people only: Answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the Deaf community, its culture, and the "Deaf Reality". (2^nd Ed). New York: Deaf Life Press

New Zealand Immigration Services TeRatonga Manene. (2003). The Facts. New Zealand,

Statistics New Zealand. (2004). National Population Estimates (June 2004 quarter) - Media Release retrieved July 2004 from http://www.stats.govt.nz/

Townshend, Suzan. (1993). The hands just have to move: Deaf education in New Zealand = a perspective from the Deaf Community. Massey University. Exam paper (unpubl.)