Disability Identity Flashcards
What is a disability?
physical or
mental impairment that limits a person’s movements, senses,
feelings or activities.
Examples of disability
- paraplegic : persons leg does not work and needs a wheelchair
- deafness and blindness
- schizophrenic: loss with reality and touch
- depression
What is the medical model ?
sees disability as a physiological, biological problem This
approach leads to the defining of a disabled person by their disability or impairment
Why is the medical model problematic?
leads to a ‘victim-blaming’ mentality, where the problem lies with
the disabled individual, rather than with a society that has not met their needs
E.g society need to find a way to help those disabled for example medicine , therapy so suffering will improve
What is the social model ?
defines disability as a societal problem. By contrast, it focuses on the social and
physical barriers to inclusion that may exist
How can society be improved according to social model ?
By changing society e.g laws, buildings for example ramps
What does Shakespeare argue for disability identity?
Major obstacles to forming a positive disabled identity as disabled people are often seen themselves as inferior and are often isolated from one another so forming identity is difficult
What else does Tom Shakespeare point out about experience of disabled people
Lack of positive role models in public life and media or even with immediate family and often being disabled leads to pity, awkwardness and avoidance
What does Tom Shakespeare argue disabled people are socialised into ?
Victim mentality of disabled people are victims and passive of their disorder
Recreation and reinforcement of disabled identities
- all agents: master status
- all agents: language : Irving Zola
- media: Colin Barnes x4
- media : Colin Barnes x4
All agents: master status
What does the label ‘disabled’ carry ?
Carries a stigma (negative label) that affects all interactions between the disabled and others creating a ‘master status’
All agents: master status
Why is being disabled becoming a master status negative
their disability becomes the defining aspect of their
identity for others, who only see them in relation to their disability and not as a man or a woman,
gay or straight, young or old, and so on.
All agents: master status
Why is master status negative for disabled person themselves?
As they see themselves first and foremost in terms of their disability
All agents: language
What does Irving Zola argue for the creation and reinforcement of disability ?
That the very vocabulary we use
to describe ourselves is borrowed from discriminatory, able-bodied society.
All agents: language
Example of language that affects disabled people ?
-de-formed
- dis eased
- dis-abled
- dis-ordered
- ab-normal
All agents: language
What does Irving Zola argue for when it comes to change for disabled people?
Have called for new language to discuss disability for example against use of ‘disabled’ and use term ‘differently able’
Media: Colin Barnes ,
What does Colin argue about media and disability ?
argues that mass media representations of disability have generally been
oppressive and negative. People with disabilities are rarely presented as people with their own
identities.
Media: Colin Barnes
What are the 4 ways according to Colin Barnes that disabled individuals are presented negatively in media ?
- In need of pity and charity : e.g children in need, channel 4 ‘the undateables’ assuming that
disabled people are incapable of finding partners to have relationships
with. - As victims : Barnes found that when people with disabilities are
featured in television drama, they are three times more likely than able-bodied characters
to be killed off. - As villains : people with disabilities are often portrayed as criminals or monsters, e.g. villains
in James Bond films often have a physical impairment. - Barnes notes that people with disabilities are often portrayed as having
special powers or as overcoming their impairment and poverty. In Hollywood films, the
impaired male body is often visually represented as a perfect physical specimen in a
wheelchair.
Media: Colin Barnes
Other 4 ways that media portrays disabled people
- As burdens: documentaries on tv focus on the carer rather than people with the disability
- As sexually abnormal: is assumed by media representations that people with disabilities
do not have sexual feelings or that they are sexually degenerate e.g undateables - incapable of participating fully in community life: Barnes calls this the stereotype of that people with disabilities are rarely shown as integral and productive
members of the community such as students, teachers or parents. - As ordinary or normal: Barnes argues that the media rarely portray people with disabilities
as normal people who just happen to have a disability. They consequently fail to reflect the
real, everyday experience of disability.
Studies for disability identity changing ?
- murugami : a person first
- changes in law
- media: positive campaigning: scope campaign #endtheawkard
murugami : a person first
What does Margret Murugami argue about a disabled person identity ?
that a disabled person has the
ability to construct a self-identity that accepts their impairment:
but is independent of it.
Murgarmi: a person first
She says that that a disabled person has the
ability to construct a self-identity that accepts their impairment:
but is independent of it , so how will they see themselves ?
They see themselves as a person first and their disability as one of their characterics
Murugami: a person first
If a disabled Person ability is blocked by by societal and environmental barriers who is blamed ?
Blames is directed at society than impairment
Changes in law
What are the changes in law in place for disabled people ?
1995 the disability discrimination Act and the equality act (2010)
