On my drive into work this week an item on Radio 4 came on about ‘Sex Robots’ apparently already on the market and much R+D underway in this area. All news to me. An invited speaker was a professor of ethics from Delft University who outlined some of the problems that society may incur with this development such as the potential for ‘Child’ sex robots and the setting of a new norm where sex is not a consenting activity between adults.

When asked what the advantages to society would be from these robots she answered that they could help the elderly and disabled. I didn’t think much about it in that moment but then I got to thinking about what she had said. When did the need for human to human intimacy belong to the young and able bodied?
Is the best society has to offer older people and people with disability who may be experiencing isolation and loneliness a sex robot? Surely this can’t be the right narrative. I am not saying there is no role for these robots but I would be against seeing them as the answer to real human and society issues which is about connectedness, human interaction and a sense of having a valued place in society.

I then started wondering (and dredging my memory from my days of studying sociology) whether the work by Durkheim on suicide where he describes a social condition known as anomie would provide me with a link to my thinking. Looking at the definition of anomie I think it might.

‘Anomie is a “condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals”. It is the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and the community, e.g., under unruly scenarios resulting in fragmentation of social identity and rejection of self-regulatory values.’

Although needing to be mindful that much of Durkheim’s work was driven by his concern for morality and the rules needed in society to maintain morality. I am not trying to be moralistic about sex and the use of sex robots but more want to really unpick what was said by this ethicist and whether this kind of narrative reinforces the view that only the young and able bodied are of value and that others in society are lesser and can have their basic needs such as intimacy met in this way.

I don’t know the answer but it left me thinking and reinforced for me my belief that healthcare professionals need to have this capacity to think and question as it is likely that they will encounter these things in their work with service users. Society is complex, issues that arise are complex and graduate level critical thinking skills will be needed by healthcare professionals to help people if asked to navigate around these kind of issues

Ann Ewens, Dean – School of Health and Social Care, Ann.Ewens@staffs.ac.uk