Strategic approaches to disability disclosure on social media

Persons with physical disabilities often face isolation in face-to-face settings or limited opportunities to form relationships due to an ongoing, and often derogatory, disability narrative of difference. Unlike face-to-face interactions, social media let persons with disabilities control how and when they disclose information about their disabilities and offer new opportunities for relationship formation. This qualitative study establishes a theoretical framework for exploring how and why persons with physical disabilities choose to disclose their disabilities on social media platforms. Major findings from the study describe three strategic approaches (open, secure, and limited) to disability disclosure on social media. The study also examines the relationship between age of discloser and age of the disability as key factors in approach selection.     

People with disability and new disaster communications: access and the social media mash-up

This article explores how a lack of access to increasingly complex and overlapping digital communications platforms in times of disaster for people with disabilities has the potential to make already life-threatening situations considerably more dangerous. As we are increasingly coming to rely on a social media mash-up of digital platforms to assist in communications during disaster situations, the issue of accessibility for people with disabilities is as dire as if it was high ground during a tsunami or transport during a typhoon. The contemporary social media environment is characterised by a complex and overlapping network of complementary platforms, populated by user-generated content, where people communicate and exchange ideas. In this environment, YouTube videos are posted to Facebook and embedded in blogs, and Twitter is used to link to these other sites and is itself embedded in other platforms. These networks are increasingly supplementing and supplanting more traditional communication platforms, such as the television and radio, particularly in times of disaster. The concern of this paper is that the elements from which this mash-up of communications channels is made are not always accessible to people with disabilities. This evolving network of social media-based communication exposes the limits of existing Internet-based universal design.     

Representations of disability in print news media in postsocialist Ukraine

This article examines the narrative discourses that shape representations of disability in newspapers in postsocialist Ukraine, arguing that narratives about disability are linked to a meta-discourse of ‘transition’ that emphasizes disorder. Further, newspaper coverage prescribes competing and contradictory models of citizenship and personhood for postsocialist subjects living with disabilities. The article offers recommendations for improving press coverage of disability issues.     

From vice to virtue: changing portrayals of minorities in China's official media

This study considers the official media's portrayal of minority groups in the People's Republic of China. Based on a content analysis of minority-centered articles appearing in the People's Daily newspaper between the years 1950 and 2001, it is found that minorities are most frequently depicted as representatives of primitive cultures. How the government presents this image of primitive minorities, however, has been subject to significant refinement over the years. The government has stepped away from its earlier practice of characterizing ‘primitive’ minority cultures as pathologies detrimental to the political and economic development of the state in favor of a more recent emphasis on the virtues associated with minority lives. The authors suggest that this transformation in government rhetoric is attributable to changes in both Chinese politics and society.     

A new model of foreign media sense-making

This paper introduces a new model to represent how individuals can develop a deepened understanding of both a foreign culture and of their own culture as a result of viewing and engaging with foreign media, and in particular foreign films and television series. The model emerged from data collected in a study of how Chinese university students based in China make sense of films and television series produced in the USA and the UK. The study involved a series of semi-structured interviews during which the students were shown clips from a number of films and television series. Five categories of sense-making activities emerged from the data, together with a number of variables, which influenced the activities, and a number of levels on which the activities could be performed. The proposed model captures all of these aspects.     

Pretending to be a normal human being: Peep Show,sitcom, and the momentary invocation of disability

This interdisciplinary article presents research about the place of disability in the British sitcom Peep Show, whose 54 episodes span more than a decade in their transmission (2003–2015). The methodology of critical discourse analysis is employed to probe the relationship between casual word choice and broader themes such as normalcy, humour, and social attitudes. This analysis is informed by classic and new work in cultural disability studies, as well as by work in literary studies and television studies. The conclusion is that, despite its apparent irrelevance to disability studies, Peep Show reveals much about conversational invocations of disability.     

Exploiting the Fifty Shades of Grey craze for the disability and sexual rights agenda

This paper does not present a literary critique of Fifty Shades of Grey, nor does it aim to take sides in the fierce disputes about the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of the storyline. Instead, it examines these debates with curiosity. It becomes apparent that the popular trilogy by E.L. James has encouraged more open discussions about sex and sexuality amongst groups who, until recently, have taken a backseat. The significance and usefulness of drawing on these debates is highlighted. For instance, a revived openness towards sexual issues could be an advantage for disabled people seeking support with creating spaces and opportunities for intimacy. At the same time, there is a risk that ‘kinkphobia’ could inform some adult protection interventions. This paper reflects on the opportunities that would arise if disabled people would seek to make the most of the possibilities arising from the Fifty Shades of Grey craze.     

Exploring how the social model of disability can be re-invigorated: in response to Mike Oliver

In his 2013 article in Disability & Society, Oliver recommended that the social model should either be replaced or re-invigorated. I argue here that the social model’s current emphasis reflects the social conditions in which it was introduced, and that the model’s impact on disabled people’s lives would increase if its emphasis was to more accurately reflect the current social conditions in the geographical regions in which it is applied. In order to help foster its re-invigoration, I ask five questions for discussion on the way forward for the social model. I identified my questions through examining published writing on the scope of the social model and on the model’s relationship with other models of disability.     

A personal validation of the social nature of disability: different environments,different experiences

There is neither a unified definition of disability nor a unique experience of disability across the world. The present paper aims to explore the lived experiences of disability in three different countries – Turkey, England and the USA – to evaluate the continued value of the social model of disability in those contexts. A comparison between these countries is provided through the lens of my personal experiences in each country as a disabled student and an academician. As can be seen in each example, whilst impairment does not change, the role of disabling barriers did change depending on the physical, social and psychological nature of the respective environments. We can therefore reasonably refer to the extent to which environments are disabling or non-disabling aspects of each setting. The paper provides a personal validation of the social nature of disability.     

The additional cost of disability: a new measure and its application to sensory impairment

This article introduces a method using consensual budget standards to estimate additional costs incurred by households that include disabled people with specified impairments. The article reports on a first application of this to UK single adults with sensory impairments. Using the Minimum Income Standard method, the research aims to identify the cost of disability by working with groups of disabled people to agree what additions to minimum budgets for non-disabled people are required for someone with a given impairment. This provides a more tangible account of the cost of disability than economic analysis of living standards achieved by disabled and non-disabled people, and adds to surveys of actual spending on additional items, which do not account for unmet need. The research on vision and hearing impairment yields new insights into costs arising from the way disabled people live their everyday lives, not just from spending on adaptations and equipment.     

New policies,old ideas: the question of disability assessment systems and social policy

This paper reports on qualitative content analysis research and critically analyzes the state’s intention to use the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a tool to develop a national disability assessment system that will guide social policy developments, and particularly the allocation of pensions and benefits to disabled people. The work uses Cyprus as an example, and reviews the most important issues arising from a recent study prepared by the Department for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The most important points stemming from the analysis are grouped and discussed in such a way as to shed light upon the most controversial aspects of the proposed assessment system, such as the definition of disabled people in national laws, and the implications of associating social policy with the assessment of disability and functioning. The discussion addresses issues that are of interest at international level.     

Rights discourses in relation to education of people with intellectual disability: towards an ethics of care that enables participation

In this paper we argue that human rights approaches for intellectually disabled people have failed to recognise the complexity of rights claims made by and on behalf of this group. Drawing on a research project into discourses of education for intellectually disabled people in the Eastern Cape, South Africa we discern three rights discourses; namely, rights to full participation, rights to special services and rights to protection. These draw off a social model, a medical model and a protective model, respectively. We note that these discourses may be set up in contestation with each other. However, we argue that they can be seen as complementary if viewed within an ethics of care that enables participation. Within this conceptualisation, participation is viewed within relations of care but is subject to a critique that examines the role of context and disciplinary power in constructing dependency.     

The ‘proper’ way to spread ideas through social media: exploring the affordances and constraints of different social media platforms as perceived by Italian activists

Social media have become a relevant arena for different forms of civic engagement and activism. This article focuses on the affordances and constraints of different social media platforms as they are perceived by Italian activists. Instead of focusing on single protest movements, or on single platforms, we adopt a media ecological approach and consider a variety of environments where people can choose to express protest‐related content. Our main goal is to explore whether, and how, the affordances and constraints of different social media platforms are perceived by users, and how such perceived differences are integrated in everyday social media activities. To this end, we combined in‐depth interviews with an adapted version of the cognitive walkthrough and thinking aloud techniques. Respondents reported that they act on social media platforms according to specific representations of what each platform ‘is’, and how it works. Such perceptions affect users’ protest‐related social media practices. Although they perceive major social media platforms filtering strategies and are aware, to different extents, of their commodified nature, they report continuing to use them for activism‐related communication, often adopting an instrumental approach.     

Exploring how the social model of disability can be re-invigorated for autism: in response to Jonathan Levitt

Levitt argues that the social model of disability needs to be re-invigorated, potentially by adapting the tool for separate countries. The social model has been successfully applied for some disabled groups in the United Kingdom. However, the social model is not implemented for neurodivergent labels such as autism, through the negative language of autism, causing severe problems for autistic individuals’ daily lives. The social model can be re-invigorated for autism, removing social barriers by changing non-autistic people’s attitudes towards autism through ensuring positive language of autism, preventing the categorisation of autism and fully enacting The Autism Act 2009 and The Equality Act 2010.     

Implementing media literacy training for social work programs at HBCUs: A literary analysis of barriers and opportunities

ABSTRACT

The image of the social work profession in the media is problematic for many reasons. Social work and its practitioners are often depicted as incompetent, ineffective, and unnecessary. Despite the necessity of the services provided to the public by social workers, public opinion of the profession remains low. To reverse the current trend, social work programs, particularly those at historically Black colleges and universities, can begin to provide media literacy training and media awareness within the curriculum to assist future social workers in stemming the tide of negative coverage and portrayals of the profession in the media. Using the media diffusion of information theory as an overview, this literary analysis provides a historical view of the profession and highlights current trends in social work practice, education, and media training.     

The optimal treatment approach to needs assessment

This paper describes a needs assessment technique which has not been considered in previous discussions. Basically the Optimal Treatment approach to needs assessment consists of comparing the most desirable set of services for a client with the services actually recommended or received. Discrepancies due to unavailable resources are noted and aggregated across clients. Systematic shortcomings may be taken to represent service needs.The advantages and disadvantages of this and other procedures are considered, especially with respect to political factors and the utility of data for planning and decision making in the local agency context.     

The relationship between the community participation of disabled youth and socioeconomic factors: mixed-methods approach in rural Sri Lanka

Mixed methods were applied to examine the association of community participation by disabled youth with socioeconomic factors in rural Sri Lanka. There was a significant association between community participation and socioeconomic factors in the quantitative survey (n = 116): participants living in socioeconomically disadvantaged conditions had lower levels of community participation than those living without these disadvantages. Consistent with the findings of the survey, previous educational experiences, household economic conditions, and perceived resource information were common themes in the qualitative study (n = 26). The dynamics of these factors, including marginalisation of disabled youth within the household, were also observed.     

Jon and Kate Plus 8: A case study of social media and image repair tactics

Broadening the application of Benoit's image repair theory, this case study compares and contrasts crisis management strategies of Jon and Kate Gosselin during their 2009 highly publicized divorce. Specifically, it looks at how they presented themselves through personal statements, interviews and social media in two phases: the year before and the year after their divorce. Findings indicate the two used many image repair strategies and experienced varying levels of success. In the end, media outlets utilized traditional cultural narratives in their framing of both celebrities, depicting Kate as a distraught wife/single mother and Jon as an irresponsible and untrustworthy husband/father. Media later transitioned to a more positive portrayal of Jon and a negative portrayal of Kate. Exploring social media added a fresh dimension to previous image repair analyses. Findings indicate social media allow celebrities to publish information fast and efficiently without a gatekeeper; however, they must still follow traditional image repair strategies to succeed.     

The assessment of sexual practices relevant to the transmission of AIDS: A global perspective

Despite global similarities between the immunologic and pathogenic properties of HIV infection, there are substantial cultural and geographical variations in the transmission dynamics of HIV infection/AIDS. In the United States and Europe, for example, HIV infection/AIDS is predominantly evident among homosexual men and intravenous drug abusers. However, in Central Africa, the data indicate that HIV infections/AIDS is heterosexually acquired. Thus, the purpose of the present paper is to suggest some basic strategies and raise some critical issues for collecting data on sexual practices relevant to the transmission of HIV infection/AIDS throughout the world. Topics include assessment strategies, language and meta‐language, cross‐cultural and intra‐cultural comparability, general methodological issues, and constraints for the assessment of anal intercourse.