Chapter 13 Flashcards
general statistics on disabilities
- About 15% of the world population (7.5 billion/2017;
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/) or one billion live with
disabilities. They are the world’s largest minority
(United Nations, 2016). - In Canada, it is estimated that 3.8 million people over the age of 15 have a disability, representing about 14 percent of the total Canadian population.
- Most people with disabilities live with family members or on their own, with close ties to family members.
- 53% of the Canadian population is directly affected by disability.
- SWers will at some point in their careers have a client with a disability or deal with family members who are faced with the onset of a disability in a loved one.
what is a disability
In recent years, the definition of “disability” has shifted
* from “something that is wrong” with an individual
* to reflect a more inclusive view that links an individual with impairments to social, political, cultural, and environmental characteristics.
Old definition vs new definition. of disability
Old textbook (p. 315)
“Disability is defined as the relationship between
body structures and functions, daily activities,
and social participation, while recognizing the
role of environmental factors.”
The United Nations’ Definition (p. 408)
“Disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments, conditions, or illnesses and the environmental and attitudinal barriers
they face. Such impairments, conditions, or illnesses may be permanent, temporary, intermittent, or imputed, and include those that
are physical, sensory, psychosocial, neurological, medical, or intellectual.”
Ableism
Ableism refers to the stigmatization of disability and the existence of prejudicial attitudes held by people without disabilities toward people with disabilities.
* Ableism is a belief in the superiority of people without disabilities over people with disabilities.
* It can take the form of ideas and assumptions,
stereotypes, practices, physical barriers in the
environment, and larger-scale (systemic) oppression.
Appropriate Terminology
Since the early 1980s, the terms “person with disabilities” and “people with disabilities” came to be accepted as the most appropriate terms to be used when referring to individuals who have disabilities.
ie. handicapped parking vs accessible parking
History of Services for People with
Disabilities
The Poor Relief Act 1601 of England.
The Poor Relief Act 1601 of England.
* The Act, popularly known as the “Elizabethan Poor Law”, or the “Old Poor Law“ created a national poor law system for England and Wales.
* The Poor Laws (1601) were developed as a means of determining who would be entitled to “social support”
* Very restrictive parameters were used to distinguish between the “deserving poor and non-deserving poor”
* Persons were considered deserving of charitable support if a local magistrate deemed them unable to work because of a disability.
* The deserving poor were entitled to charitable support, such as permission to beg or to receive charity from religious institutions.
* These forms of charitable relief was known as
“outdoor relief”
* Money, food, clothing or goods, to alleviate
poverty without entering an institution.
History of Services for People with
Disabilities
- In essence, outdoor relief meant that persons with disabilities were cared for through non-institutional methods of relief and were part of the community
- However…,
- By the mid-19th C outdoor relief came to be seen as a mechanism that created dependency.
- Persons with disabilities now viewed as nuisance
populations, to be removed from society and placed in segregated institutions – asylum, workhouses, poor houses, special schools, chronic care facilities, and later, hospitals. Indoor relief.
By the mid-20th century, the institutionalization of people with
disabilities was the dominant methods of care and most provinces across Canada had established large facilities for this purpose. - Many provinces had “special” residential schools for blind and deaf children/adolescents.
- Provincial institutions were established for people with psychiatric disabilities/people with developmental disabilities.
- The institutionalization of people with disabilities was so widespread that it became the common belief that this was the natural order of things, and that people with disabilities had always been separated from the community.
What’s Wrong with Institutional Care?
ie. hospitals
.g., hospitals)* Persons with disabilities were placed in segregated
institutions – asylum, workhouses, poor houses,
special schools, chronic care facilities, and later,
hospitals. Indoor relief.
Rehabilitation Paradigm:
* Problem: Physical impairment
* Solution: Professional intervention by physician,
therapist, occupational therapist, vocational
rehabilitation counsellor
* Who control?: Professionals
Understanding disability - two theories
Currently, two broad approaches characterize social work involvement with persons with disabilities:
* Medical model/personal tragedy theory.
* Views disability as an “impairment” / a “personal tragedy” and emphasizes the need of the individual to adapt within mainstream society.
* Political rights model/social oppression theory.
* Concerned with the social and political context and the need for society to adapt.
British disability advocate and theorist Michael Oliver coined the terms “personal tragedy theory” and “social oppression theory” to capture the
differences in the two approaches.
“Personal Tragedy”
Theory (Medical Model)
- A disabling condition is viewed as an unfortunate life event (tragedy) where some form of professional/medical assistance is required.
- Disability is primarily a medical problem and the focus of intervention should be on the disabled individual.
- Most of the literature pertaining to the impact of disability on the individual and on the family focuses primarily on the stages of adjustment to the disability.
- Many of these explanations of adjustment to disability are based on psychological theories pertaining to or coping with death and dying.
Political Rights Model: Social
Oppression Theory:
- The problems faced by people with disabilities are not the result of physical impairments alone, but are the result of the social and political inequality that exists between people with disabilities and people without disabilities.
- The difficulties faced by people with disabilities stem from the social context and not entirely from individual impairments.
- Environmental factors are a primary cause of
problems for people with disabilities. - Systematic change involving social and political change is required if these obstacles are to be overcome.
The Independent Living Movement: Its Philosophy
The philosophy of the Independent Living Movement is to encourage and
assist persons with disabilities achieve self-direction over the personal and
community services needed to attain their own independent living.
* The ILM can be traced to the Cowell Residence Program at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1960s.
* In the early 1960s, students with severe disabilities were housed in Cowell Hospital on campus.
* A group of students with disabilities began to recognized that medical/rehabilitation professionals largely controlled their lives.
* Their efforts to take back control inspired the ILM and the disability rights movement of the 1970s and continue to do today.
* In 2015, a total of 25 Independent Living Resource Centres (ILRCs) were operating across Canada.
The Independent Living Movement
Principles of Independent Living
- The IL philosophy empowers consumers to make the choices that are necessary to control their community and personal resources.
- Consumer control means that ILRCs are governed and controlled by persons with disabilities.
- The IL movement differs from traditional service providing organizations by emphasizing peer support, self-direction, and community integration by and for people with disabilities themselves.
- IL is founded on the right of people with disabilities to:
- Live with dignity in their chosen community,
- Participate in all aspects of their lives, and
- Control and make decisions about their own lives.
Theories of Disability: Contrasting Approaches
Rehabilitation Paradigm vs Independent Living Paradigm
Definition of Problem :
Physical impairment/lack of employment skills vs
Dependent on professionals, relatives, etc.
Locus of Problem:
In the individual vs
In the environment and rehabilitation process
Solution to Problem:
Professional intervention by physician,
therapist, occupational therapist,
vocational rehabilitation counsellor vs
Peer counselling, advocacy, self-help, consumer control, removal of barriers
Social Role:
Patient/client vs
Citizen/consumer
Who Controls:
Professional vs
Citizen/consumer
Desired Outcome:
Maximize activities and living skills vs
Independent living
The Poor Relief Act 1601
* Deserving poor vs
underserving poor
* Outdoor relief: no
institutionalization
* Begging
* Being lodged in a private home
* Indoor relief: recipients of indoor relief enter a work house, poor house, or asylum.
mid 19th
* Indoor relief:
institutionalization
* special schools, chronic care facilities, and later, hospitals.
* Separation from the community
mid20th
* Independent Living
Movement
* Consumer
* Control
* Integration
2023?
Medical Model -> Political Right Model
Rehabilitation Paradigm -> Independent living Paradigm
