The Disability Screening Process and the Labor Market Behavior of Accepted and Rejected Applicants: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

This paper uses Social Security earnings records linked to data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the labor market behavior of rejected and accepted disability applicants prior to their application. We find that rejected applicants have substantially lower earnings and labor force participation rates during the decade prior to application than beneficiaries. Also, we find some evidence of a divergence between these groups, with rejected applicants leaving the labor force at a faster rate than beneficiaries as their application date approaches. One interpretation of these results is that the disability screening process on average separates those who are at least partially motivated by adverse economic circumstances when applying for disability benefits from other applicants.     

Challenging Stereotypes Surrounding Disability and Promoting Anti‐oppressive Practice: Some Reflections on Teaching Social Work Students in Northern Ireland

Relatively high levels of dependency on disability benefits in Northern Ireland has led to widespread assumptions within this society that fraud and abuse are rife within the social security system. Consequently, many of those in receipt of disability benefits are stereotyped as dishonest, malingerers and scroungers. This stereotyping is damaging to all disabled people and undermines the security that the welfare system is supposed to provide. Social workers are obliged to work within an anti‐oppressive framework, addressing issues of oppression and discrimination. It is therefore imperative that strategies and techniques, which raise their awareness of these issues, are developed. This article describes a teaching strategy that was introduced in the first year of a social work degree programme, to enable students to recognise and reflect upon cultural stereotypes, and comments on its effectiveness.     

Difficulties in Shifting from Individualistic to Socio-political Policy Regarding Disability in Canada

An individualistic conception of disability has been replaced by a socio-political definition. The socio-political model implies that disability stems from the failure of the social environment to adjust to the needs of people with disabilities rather than from the inability of disabled individuals to adapt to societal demands. This paper will examine the extent to which Canadian policies have changed to embrace this new definition. There has been some progress in policies related to shelter, transportation and recreation. However, policies related to income and employment are still individualistic in nature because policy change in these areas requires a major shift in governmental approach to unemployment and fundamental reform of the Social Assistance system. In a period of high unemployment, people with disabilities are viewed as surplus labour, and the Canadian government has found that high unemployment is politically tolerable. Obstacles to an increase in income support include a strong work ethic, the philosophy that social assistance benefits should be less than could be earned in the work-force, and the private insurance and litigation industries which benefit from the current income system. Other barriers to change are the lack of power of disabled groups and the dominance of professionals.     

‘If this wasn’t here I probably wouldn’t be’: disabled workers’ views of employment support

UK governments since 1997 have introduced significant changes to move disabled people off benefits and into employment. Commentators have criticised the adoption of the ‘medical model’ of disability implicit in many of these policies, with its focus on individual rather than institutional change. This paper reports empirical data about participants’ experiences of one national supported employment programme. Participants of WORKSTEP were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences both of work and the support to find work. The rare reports of negative experiences reflect the focus on intervening at the level of individual workers, rather than the workplace or organisation of work. Analysis of their views is valuable in the light of ongoing welfare reform as well as recessionary pressures on labour markets and employment services, which, in emphasising individual solutions to employment problems, may overlook the need for more broad-based, social interventions.     

Losing Ground: Social Policy and Disabled People in Great Britain, 1980-90

This paper reviews some of the major themes of social policy in Britain over the past decade and examines in detail the impact on disabled people in three major areas: employment; income and social security provision; and the organisation and delivery of health and social welfare services. It will be argued that, despite some superficial similarities between the demands of disabled people and the rhetoric of the New Right for reductions in dependency and control by the state, the dominant policy themes of free market forces, privatisation and reductions in the scope of welfare state services have not served disabled people's interests well. Moreover, attempts to “protect” disabled people within a much reduced welfare state have not been effective and have in any case had the unwelcome consequence of increasing the scrutiny and control exercised by professionals and others. This stands in contrast to the alternative policy agenda articulated by disabled people themselves, which stresses autonomy, integration, an end to discrimination, and rights—to equal chances in employment, to an adequate level of income, and to services which enhance personal choice and facilitate independent living.     

Disabled men and fathering: opportunities and constraints

Over the last decade in the UK and elsewhere, fathers have become a visible presence in research and social welfare policy and practice agendas. While there is an increasing awareness of the heterogeneity of fathering contexts and experiences, disability as a dimension of difference among fathers has received little attention. This is so across all relevant bodies of research, including those on fathering, masculinities, disability, and parenting. In this paper, we seek to contribute to filling this gap by exploring the experiences of disabled men in relation to their fathering experiences. We draw on the findings from two qualitative research projects conducted in the UK, one on the experiences of disabled parents (mothers and fathers), the other on the experiences of disabled fathers. The findings suggest that the experience of impairment and disability positions men in relation to fathering in ways which can be both constraining of their fathering practices, as well as opportunistic in terms of re-articulating more ‘traditional’ fathering identities and practices. We suggest that while disability intersects with other important social divisions, there is a need for further research focused on the shared experiences of disabled fathers, particularly to inform family and child welfare policy and practice agendas.     

Social security, employment and Incapacity Benefit: critical reflections on A new deal for welfare

In January 2006 New Labour published a Green Paper on welfare reform, A new deal for welfare: empowering people to work. Following a consultation period the 2006 Welfare Reform Bill was published in July 2006. The main concern of the Green Paper was with Incapacity Benefit and the people who claim it. This paper critically engages with the proposals outlined in the Green Paper and the subsequent Bill. Focusing upon the social security and labour market interventions of the proposals, the paper argues that rather than empowering disabled people to work, the relationships held to exist between welfare reform and paid employment in A new deal for welfare are likely to have a limited impact. The paper discusses why this is likely to be the case by examining assumptions contained in the proposals related to the reasons why people claim Incapacity Benefit, the model of disability that structures the proposals and the relationships between disability, paid work and models of family structure that the proposals presuppose.     

Challenges Faced by Women with Disabilities Under TANF

SUMMARY

A number of studies report the multiple problems facing women during the welfare reform transition. Within this group is a large number of single mothers struggling with both poverty and chronic health problems or disabilities. Those with these additional challenges might be expected to experience less success in moving out of poverty than those without these health challenges. In this study, we examine the progress of 178 women around the state of Wisconsin who were interviewed repeatedly about their experiences with welfare reform and poverty between 1997 and 2000, when the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program was being implemented. The incidence of health problems is related to level of education, and the type of disability has major impacts on expected outcome. Those with less education are more likely to suffer from health problems, especially mental health issues, depression and post-traumatic stress, which seem to be the most debilitating. These women also had difficulty accessing non-work support, such as Supplement Security Income (SSI), a federal assistance program for disabled persons with little or no income, or assistance from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), a federal and state program of assistance to promote the employment abilities of adults with disabilities.     

Moving the Boundaries of Feminist Social Work Education with Disabled People in the Neoliberal Era

Until recently social work education in Australia has either marginalised or neglected disability by omission. Given the increasing number of disabled people in the community, the teaching of social work within a disability studies emancipatory paradigm as an essential part of the curriculum is long overdue. As many social work educators have suggested, we are at a critical moment in Australia, where the policy environment in which social work is embedded has largely been reframed in line with neoliberal trends. For disabled people, this has meant an ongoing state campaign to diminish disability entitlements, from decreasing disability social security regimes through to the rationalisation of adult disability support and care schemes. Social workers are negotiating the competing demands of these policy constraints alongside the needs of the disabled people they work with. New moral dilemmas have emerged where they are actively faced with the question of ‘who to serve?’.     

Abuse and Disabled People: Vulnerability or social indifference?

This paper analyses current literature surrounding issues of abuse and disability, and discusses whether the forms of abuse experienced by disabled people results from an individual vulnerability, or as a consequence of social attitudes towards disabled people. Three case studies form supportive evidence, and have been compiled from personal research, they represent a combination of abusive features, rather than any one individuals situation. The study hopes not to suggest that all disabled people are especially vulnerable to abuse, but asks if society and existing welfare services acknowledge and respond to allegations of abuse without prejudice to disability. This study formed my dissertation paper as a student on the BA (Hons) Social Work and Welfare Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, and I would like to thank my dissertation tutor, Bob Sapey, for his guidance and support throughout the study.     

Application of the International classification of functioning,disability and health in Taiwan: victory of the medical model

Since July 2012, eligibility for disability benefits and services in Taiwan has been assessed based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. This study examines disabled people’s experiences of this new assessment system: does it incorporate the social model or a multidimensional understanding of disability and assess the needs of disabled people adequately? In-depth interviews were employed with 24 disabled persons to answer these questions from the perspective of disabled people. The findings show that the new assessment model is still medicalised: social roles and social participation are not considered, the assessment process is dominated by professionals, users’ perspectives are not included and only those who are assessed to have a high level of disability are satisfied with the new system while many others would prefer the old assessment system. These findings have relevance for the analysis of needs assessments of disabled people in different countries.     

The Influence of the Socio-economic Characteristics of Disabled People on Their Employment Status and Income

Most of the studies of the employment and income levels of disabled people focus on a specific disability or on severely disabled persons. A few studies are cross disability ones, but they fail to go beyond simple associations or else have extremely small sample sizes. There is a need for studies which are cross disability and which have an adequate sample size in order to determine if there are structural variables in society—like a class system-which operate upon the employment opportunities of disabled persons. Using a sample (n = 733) of the Disability Community in Massachusetts, socio-economic variables related to employment and income are studied. Statistically significant relationships are found. Several models are developed and the implications for social theory are discussed.     

Gradual Retirement in Germany

While nearly all developed nations have some form of attendance allowance for the elderly and disabled, the United Kingdom and several of the American states have provisions to pay caregivers directly if they are family members. This paper compares and contrasts provisions in the U.K. Invalid Care Allowance with provisions of a program in one American state-Michigan. Such payments potentially benefit disabled people, caregivers, and cost-conscious states. However, two particular goals shape the programs' impacts on caregiver functioning and adequacy. One is the extent to which programs operate as welfare provisions and benefits directed at the social or household economy. The other is the extent to which they function as a substitute for wage labor in the market economy. Each of these can be assessed in relation to the real, personal choices and economic gains it provides caregivers. Presumably, both are important in sustaining adequate and satisfying long-term care. Only by truly expanding choice as well as capacity can governments expect to effectively sustain an optimal mix of care provision in the community.     

Wages or welfare? Compensating caregiving in two conservative social welfare states

While nearly all developed nations have some form of attendance allowance for the elderly and disabled, the United Kingdom and several of the American states have provisions to pay caregivers directly if they are family members. This paper compares and contrasts provisions in the U.K. Invalid Care Allowance with provisions of a program in one American state-Michigan. Such payments potentially benefit disabled people, caregivers, and cost-conscious states. However, two particular goals shape the programs' impacts on caregiver functioning and adequacy. One is the extent to which programs operate as welfare provisions and benefits directed at the social or household economy. The other is the extent to which they function as a substitute for wage labor in the market economy. Each of these can be assessed in relation to the real, personal choices and economic gains it provides caregivers. Presumably, both are important in sustaining adequate and satisfying long-term care. Only by truly expanding choice as well as capacity can governments expect to effectively sustain an optimal mix of care provision in the community.     

The politics of sexual citizenship: commercial sex and disability

This paper breaks a long silence by bringing together two areas of literature that have generally been considered separately: that of sexuality and disability with findings from studies on sex work. Presenting empirical findings from two studies, one with sex workers who work from indoor sex markets and the other with men who buy sex, this paper exposes the existing relationships and practices between men with physical and sensory impairments who seek out commercial sexual services from female sex workers. In the discussion the politics surrounding sexual rights and commercial sex will be addressed. In the context of commercial sex, quality of life issues, complex power dynamics and the common ground between disabled people and sex workers rights are discussed. This paper considers the negative aspects of promoting commercial sex for people with impairments, as well as the positive aspects regarding the wider campaign for sexual citizenship. Finally, I set out recommendations and a new research and policy agenda that investigates the complexities of commercial and facilitated sex.     

The Social Model of Disability Under the Shadow of the Revolution: Ex-combatants Negotiating Identity in Nicaragua

The social model of disability, which defines disability as the product of social discrimination rather than the physical, cognitive, or sensory differences of individuals, became the dominant logic of the international disability field with the 2006 passage of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As such, grassroots disability associations around the world are advocating for new rights. These campaigns promote a new identity frame of disabled persons as a universally oppressed group. This identity, however, does not benefit all groups equally and actually threatens some. Using qualitative methods, I compare the usage of the disability identity by two grassroots associations in Nicaragua. Ex-Contra soldiers with disabilities use the identity to obfuscate their discredited history as “traitors” and, instead, represent themselves as unjustly discriminated against disabled persons deserving special benefits and human rights protections. Ex-Sandinista soldiers with disabilities also make claims, but only reluctantly as disabled, preferring to self-identify as war wounded. Because of changes in law, however, Ex-Sandinista soldiers are increasingly unable to make claims as war heroes, but must instead access benefits as persons with disabilities “in general.” This case demonstrates how actors strategically use the social model of disability in relation to local political culture and group identity.     

A return to work program for injured workers: a reassignment model

The current workers' compensation system does not encourage permanently restricted workers who are disabled due to work related injuries to return to work. Workers are often labeled permanently disabled and are released from their positions with their employers. However, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, these individuals may be qualified to return to productive employment. This paper will describe a Reassignment Model for occupational therapy supported by the rehabilitation frame of reference. This Model presents reassignment to a vacant position as a reasonable accommodation to return injured workers to productive employment. A case study will illustrate the successful implementation of the model. The potential benefits of using this Model will be described for clients, society, employers, and the occupational therapy profession.     

The Researched Opinions on Research: disabled people and disability research

Thirty-five disabled people with a range of physical, sensory and mental impairments were interviewed about (1) their experiences of research; (2) their general opinions concerning research; (3) whether they thought research had served/was serving disabled people well; (4) how research on disability should be conducted; (5) who should conduct research on disability; and, finally, (6) what they would like to be researched. In this paper, the results of aspects two to five are reported. It was found that the opinions of disabled people mirror quite strongly the recent arguments forwarded by disabled academics concerning the need for emancipatory and empowering research strategies. In particular, the respondents articulated a need for inclusive, action-based research strategies, where disabled people are involved as consultants and partners not just as research subjects, There were few arguments, however, for an exclusive approach, where disability research would be conducted solely by researchers who were themselves disabled.     

Neoliberalism,postsocialism, disability

This paper discusses the impact of neoliberalism on disability policy and activism. The paper highlights the neoliberalisation of postsocialist disability policy, as well as the convergence between the neoliberal critique of welfare-state paternalism and the advocacy of disabled people’s movement for deinstitutionalisation and direct payments (personal assistance). The discussion is supported by examples from Bulgaria and the United Kingdom. In conclusion, the paper argues that neoliberalism confronts the disabled people’s movement with two difficult tasks: to defend self-determination while criticising market-based individualism, and to defend the welfare state while criticising expert-based paternalism.     

Stepping outside normative neoliberal discourse: youth and disability meet – the case of Jody McIntyre

In May 2010, amidst the ‘global financial crisis’ a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government succeeded a 12-year reign of New Labour in the United Kingdom, and ushered in massive welfare cuts. Although New Labour tabled major welfare and disability benefit reform, they arguably did not activate the harshest of these. This paper focuses on the backlash of youth and disability in the form of demonstrations; two groups that are being hit hard by the political shift to work-first welfare in an era of employment scarcity. The case of young disabled activist Jody McIntyre is used to explore parallels and divergences in neoliberal and ‘populist’ discourses of ‘risky’, ‘troubling’ youth and disability.