THE belief that raising low self-esteem will cure all our social and personal problems is undermining our ability to cope with life on our own, a leading sociologist will say today.

Fifteen years ago, when the concept of the stiff upper lip was still deemed acceptable, the term low self-esteem was seldom heard, according to Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at Kent University.

But nowadays children, teenage mothers, lone parents, domestic violence victims, older people, the poor and convicted criminals are all perceived to be suffering from this disease, which undermines their ability to control their own lives and allows them to abdicate responsibility for their actions.

Low self-esteem has even been claimed by politicians and so-called policy experts to afflict whole communities and entire generations.

Professor Furedi argues that far from solving social problems, the culture of low self-esteem is making them worse, by forcing individuals and communities into a state of increasing dependency upon others to make them feel good about themselves before they can function properly.

“Low self-esteem is not just represented as the consequence of problems such as poverty, racism or domestic violence. It itself is frequently depicted as a cause of social distress. Government agencies continually point to the self-esteem deficit as the source of social problems,” Professor Furedi will say tonight in his inaugural lecture at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

Thus the Treasury argues in a consultation document that the effects of local development policies will be marginal unless they help foster “people’s skills and self-esteem”, and the Rough Sleepers Unit calls for “pragmatic approaches which build self-esteem”. The Department of Health for Wales cites “low self-esteem” as one of the principal causes of child prostitution and the Prime Minister says that the problem of social exclusion is not so much about material poverty as about destructive influences that are “damaging to self-esteem”.

The business and voluntary sectors have latched on to the “self-esteem” deficit too. The National Cycling Forum boasts that regular cyclists, “have improved well-being, higher self-esteem and greater confidence in their ability to perform active tasks”, while SureSlim, a commercial company helping people to manage their weight, tells potential customers that the “rewarding end product” for people who lose some weight is “the boost in morale and self-esteem”.

When a railway station was closed down in Shildon, Co Durham, the manager of the local train museum observed that it represented a “devastating blow to local self-esteem”.

Even anti-poverty campaigners have shifted their focus from the broad structural picture to the impact of deprivation on self-esteem. A recent study by the Child Poverty Action Group examines the impact of poverty “on self-esteem and personal dignity”. Despite this widespread emphasis on low self-esteem, there is no convincing empirical evidence linking high self-esteem with positive social outcomes, Professor Furedi says.

On the contrary, evidence appears to be emerging in the US that high self-esteem can be destructive as it makes people respond aggressively when their inflated self-image is threatened by criticism or perceived insult. Professor Furedi argues that the more low self-esteem is politicised the more it “provides an exemption from having to reflect or to take responsibility for the failures of life. People will become less resourceful and more dependent as they come to believe that unless they are feeling good about themselves, they will not be able to cope with life on their own.”

Policy initiatives focusing on improving low self-esteem are not the magic cure-all they are made out to be, Professor Furedi argues.“All they really do is force people into subservience, reliant on the State for direction and well-being”.

Department of Health and National Assembly for Wales, Safeguarding Children Involved in Prostitution.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Rough Sleeping: The Government’s Strategy.

The Department of Education’s “Sex and Relationship” education advice tells schools to prepare young people to have “the confidence and self-esteem to value themselves and others”.

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