Let Us Move beyond the Short Sighted “Blame the Victim” Rhetoric

Abstract

Health promotion is sometimes criticized because it appears to place sole responsibility on the individual to make lifestyle changes. Some critics of health promotion argue that individuals are often caught in difficult work, family or societal situations that make it difficult for them to practice good health habits. These critics feel our efforts would be better directed if focused on correcting economic, educational, and social inequities, eliminating environmental health hazards, and creating less stressful work environments. Efforts that focus on individual lifestyle changes are thus labeled as Blaming the Victim. The basic concepts behind Blame the Victim criticism are valid, and well directed constructive criticism can stimulate creation of programs that not only change immediate health habits, but also address root causes. 13 However, many of those who evoke Blame the Victim rhetoric do so in a self-righteous tone and are often misinformed about the history of the concept, the range of health promotion approaches available, and even the intentions of health promotion providers. As such, their criticisms serve little more than to polarize factions within the field, discourage hard working and competent practitioners, and stall evolution of our expertise.