Disability Identity Flashcards
What is the medical model of disability
The one held by medical professionals who see disabled people as victims of impairments which prevent them from living a full life.
What do critics claim about the medical mode
That is patronises disabled people as deserving of pity and charity. It encourages non-disabled people to judge and stereotype disabled people in terms of their disability.
What does the social model of disability believe
That people living with a mental or physical impairment often find that non-disabled people fail to look beyond the impairment or disability during interactions.
What is assumed by non-disabled people about the identity of disabled people
That the identity of disabled people is shaped by their physical or mental impairments and that consequently disabled people are unable to lead a ‘normal’ life because, in a society in which non-disabled people dominate, those with the disabilities are negatively labelled as a social problem.
The impairment is seen as the majority as what
The defining characteristic or master status of the disabled person
Define master status
A deviant status which overs to override other characteristics if an individual and tends to define how they are treated by others
How does a master status result in the way someone is treated
Because it completely dominates the way someone is treated and any other personal attributes are seen as less important. The person who is unable to walk unaided is seen as wheelchair bound and not as a smart, articulate women
What does this master status and labelling result in
Self-fulfilling prophecy. As disabled people internalise and start to believe in these negative labels. This may produce learned helplessness - disabled people who take for granted their dependant status.
What are the media representations of disabled people
They are frequently negative and rarely present disabled people as positive role models.
What does Ridely argue
That the medias representation of disability contributes to why non-disabled people find disability as embarrassing or awkward.
What does Tom Shakespeare see identity of disabled people as
A social construction
What does Shakespeare argue
That the identity of a disabled person being a social construction means that disabled people are disabled by society, particularly by the negative attitudes and stereotypes held by non-disabled people about disabled people.
What do the prejudices do
Create social barriers that discriminate against disabled people and prevent them from leading independent lives.
What do social barriers include
The built environment, which is often more suitable for the needs of non-disabled people rather those with impairments, Like toilets and access to buildings.
Are employers reluctant to to employ people with impairments
Yes, and this means that disabled people with impairments are more likely to be on state benefits and to be living in a state of poverty
