Disability & Identity Flashcards
What are the two approaches of understanding disability in society?
The medical model
The social model
What is the medical model?
- It sees disability as a medical problem, focusing on the limitations caused by the impairment.
- It leads to defining a disabled person by their disability, leading to a ‘victim blaming’ mentality where problems lies with the individual.
Who discusses that disabled people are often socialised to see them self as victims?
Shakespeare
What phrase does Shakespeare use to describe the impact of the medical model?
‘Victim mentality’
What is the social model?
- It focuses on the social and physical barriers to inclusion that may exist, like the design of buildings and public spaces which denies access to those with mobility problems
- Society is the disabling factor
How is disability arguably socially constructed?
The social model shows that it rests on assumptions of what is normal or abnormal.
Why does Shakespeare say there are major obstacles in forming a positive disabled identity?
- They are socialised to see themself as inferior
- They are often isolated from one another
- There’s a lack of positive role models in public life, the media, or within immediate family
What do interactionists say about the label ‘disabled’?
It carries a stigma that affects interactions, creating a ‘master status’. It transcends all other aspects of identity and becomes the defining characteristic.
What proof is there that a master status may be true for the individual themself?
Gill, a polio survivor, said reconciling your identity as a disabled person is a common hurdle, as you have previously held those views towards others.
Who discussed the vocab used to describe those with a disability?
Zola
What does Zola, disabled through polio, say?
‘’The language we used to describe ourselves borrows from a discriminatory able bodied society’’
What contributes to ‘learned helplessness’?
- Vocab used
- Segregated schooling
What does Murugami discuss?
- A disabled person can construct a self identity that accepts their impairment but is independent from it.
- They see them self as a person first and their disability as just a characteristic.
Who discusses the idea of being able to construct a self identify?
Muragami
How has disability as an identity became more positive?
- Paralympics raise awareness of positive achievements
- Disability discrimination act was passed in 1995
- Requirements for buildings
- Ridley and the Scope UK campaign to try to eradicate the awkwardness around a disability
