Failed to understand "have faeces posted through their letter box to scare them away from..."

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Does it mean "have dirty things smeared their house, which scares other people from neighborhood away"?

Context:
The mental illness taboo is a problem for all of us

18:02 20 June 2013 by Graham Thornicroft and Diana Rose

As celebrities become more open about their mental health problems, stigma still ensures most people conceal such illnesses, say two researchers in the field

In recent weeks Ruby Wax and Stephen Fry have once again reminded us that the lives of the famous are not always as perfect as we might think. Not for the first time, these two stars of British TV have publicly discussed their mental health: Wax her depression and Fry his bipolar disorder. Their continued openness furthers a helpful trend among celebrities. But for the vast majority with such conditions, discussion is not the norm.

Stigma and discrimination have long been major barriers to people with mental illness. The same is not true for other conditions: it is inconceivable that a person with asthma or hypertension, for example, would have faeces posted through their letter box to scare them away from the neighbourhood. Yet people with mental health problems report such abuses. Even so, the true scale of these problems has become apparent only relatively recently.

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View best answer, chosen by oristarA

Basically, the idiots in the neighbourhood sometimes post poo through the letterbox (the slit in the door through which the postman usually delivers letters).
They think that by doing this, they will make life so unpleasant for the victim, that he/she will be persuaded to move away to another area.

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@Lordyaswas,

Lordyaswas wrote:

Basically, the idiots in the neighbourhood sometimes post poo through the letterbox (the slit in the door through which the postman usually delivers letters).
They think that by doing this, they will make life so unpleasant for the victim, that he/she will be persuaded to move away to another area.

Thanks.
The problem for understanding the grammar is that "their" and "them" (in "that a person with asthma or hypertension, for example, would have faeces posted through their letter box to scare them away from the neighbourhood") all refer to "a person with asthma or hypertension").

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@oristarA,

oristarA wrote:

The problem for understanding the grammar is that "their" and "them" (in "that a person with asthma or hypertension, for example, would have faeces posted through their letter box to scare them away from the neighbourhood") all refer to "a person with asthma or hypertension").

You need to be aware of the "singular they'. This is the use of they (or its inflected forms, such as them or their) to refer to an entity that is not plural, or not necessarily plural. Though singular they is widespread in everyday English and has a long history of usage, debate continues about its acceptability. It typically occurs in these situations:

Indeterminate gender:

This is when they refers to an individual person of unknown or unspecified sex, as in, for example, "One student failed their exam". This usage is known as epicene they.

Indeterminate number:

Used when they has no definite antecedent, or can be interpreted as referring to either a singular or plural entity. This usage is also known as generic they. For example, in "Anyone who thinks they have been affected should contact their doctor".

In some cases, they is used even when both the number and gender of the subject are known, but the identity of the person is generic, e.g. "If some guy beat me up, I'd leave them."

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@contrex,

Excellent!
Thank you.

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Failed to understand "have faeces posted through their letter box to scare them away from..."

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