The discourse switch - to what extent does this take place across professions in the UK?

Over the past few years I have raised a number of issues with public sector staff including parliamentarians, voluntary advice workers and crime and disorder staff. What I've experienced is a general refusal to acknowledge the issues I've put forward which are classed as conspiratorial, paranoid or delusional despite the fact that academic articles have been used to support the arguments made. There seems to be a tendency to cite works of literature or else where from the arts as the basis for conspiracy, for example the China Syndrome, 1984, Brave New World, Jacobs Ladder etc. despite the fact that the arguments offered have a relatively strong academic foundation. The point of concern is that it has not been easy to challenge what may be prejudiced action on the part of several professional groups or bodies in the UK and there could be scope for professional development around these issues. Scientific argument in some situations has not been dealt with rationally but rejected on the basis of an assumption that people who may have had mental health problems would willingly draw from the arts and that this is an acceptable culturally embedded framework to use to dismiss what could be significant information to provide for public safety.

I am considering writing an academic article on the issue of 'the discourse switch' and how the willingness to engage in discussion on the likelihood of conspiracy theories for want of a broad general term may tend to vary according to institutional factors which shape professional conduct. I am considering writing an academic article on the issue of argument styles and responses to ‘paranoid conspiracy’, which may be attributable to training, government guidance or ill conceived prejudice which has become institutionalised in several professions in the UK, if not more broadly throughout the world. The purpose of this would be to identify the extent to which the phenomenon does take place, to more clearly identify reasons why this does take place, if it does, and the to suggest how the problem may be construed in order to generate a number of solutions which require political action.

This may involve accessing information through the freedom of information act from a number of organisations. The possible prejudice involved in the discourse switch – ensure that the home office are responsible for the interpretation and democratically elected politicians are clearly indicating that it is definite policy to disregard conspiracy theories and this is not done unprofessionally by the police or other professionals who may be accused of exercising unnecessary prejudice or bias.

I don't know if there are academics that could be identified in the UK who may be interested in collaborating on this as a potential project or through responding to the blog but I would be very pleased to hear back if there are. The issue as a matter which could affect the quality of service delivery for several professional groups may prove fruitful to explore for a few reasons. I don't know how well this is dealt with within existing literature and to what extent the questions raised may already have been answered as I haven't had opportunity to undertake a literature review at present - this too would be interesting to hear back from people on.

Perhaps as an aside that will lead to me not being taking seriously in the least, there is some interesting cultural data on the biases in policing that may be taking place in the UK if you click The Goodies - the baddies part one, part two and part three. Watching the Goodies in El Salvador provides a certain amount of balance to my life. Oh, and the picture above, how can you not like a country like El Salvador when it has signs on the doors of banks indicating that you can't bring in guns....