Crip theory and the disabled identity: why disability politics needs impairment

This article highlights the importance of recognizing both the ontology of impairment as it relates to the creation of the disabled identity as well as why articulations of the disabled identity being ‘crip’ obfuscate potential politics. Examining how the disabled identity has been cast as a coherent social and political category, rather than the messy and complicated identity it truly is, I argue the adoption of a post-structuralist orientation by activists and advocates is bad for disability politics. Providing two examples, the first focusing on a publicized rape case of a person with an intellectual disability and the second on the importance of disability rights claims based on visibility of impairment, I show how articulations like those made in crip theory can have serious, negative implications for the lived experience of people with disabilities. I conclude with a call for disability studies scholars to engage disability politics in their work.     

Ten years of the CRPD’s adoption in China: challenges and opportunities

This article examines the challenges and opportunities of implementing the CRPD's rights-based model in China, especially the effects of the diminishing space for civil society on the nascent disability rights movement. A disability rights movement emerged as a direct result of the CRPD’s adoption in 2008. Two recent restrictive civil society legislations, however, undermined this process. While the diminishing space of civil society has posed great challenges to the movement by marginalizing the rights advocacy approach, it has created an opportunity for service-oriented disability associations to thrive. While service-oriented associations are often ignored by disability studies scholarship and the disability rights movement, I argue that, through these organizations, persons with disabilities in China have done critical identity work and substantively increased their level of independence in their daily lives. As a result, a disability rights consciousness continues to be built in China, despite governmental hostility to political advocacy.     

The medicalization of Nonhuman Animal rights: frame contestation and the exploitation of disability

Nonhuman Animal rights activists are sometimes dismissed as ‘crazy’ or irrational by countermovements seeking to protect status quo social structures. Social movements themselves often utilize disability narratives in their claims-making as well. In this article, we argue that Nonhuman Animal exploitation and Nonhuman Animal rights activism are sometimes medicalized in frame disputes. The contestation over mental ability ultimately exploits humans with disabilities. The medicalization of Nonhuman Animal rights activism diminishes activists’ social justice claims, but the movement’s medicalization of Nonhuman Animal use unfairly otherizes its target population and treats disability identity as a pejorative. Utilizing a content analysis of major newspapers and anti-speciesist activist blogs published between 2009 and 2013, it is argued that disability has been incorporated into the tactical repertoires of the Nonhuman Animal rights movement and countermovements, becoming a site of frame contestation. The findings could have implications for a number of other social movements that also negatively utilize disability narratives.     

Exploratory research on the death and survival of neonates with congenital disorders in North Korea

In 2016, North Korea ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, previous data and the testimonies of North Koreans have suggested that infants born with congenital disorders are either being euthanized or else left unattended resulting in their deaths. The study focuses on the question, “How is the life or death of infants born with congenital disorders determined during childbirth in North Korea?” In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 North Korean refugees who were involved as doctors, nurses, or party officials in the policies and practices related to persons with disabilities. We analyzed the interviews using the Grounded Theory with constant comparison and confirmed that infants born with congenital defects were intentionally euthanized with the acquiescence of the North Korean political party, hospitals, or their parents. It was also observed that children with disabilities in North Korea are subjected to severe human rights abuses. The dismal conditions in North Korean society have made parents unwilling to and incapable of raising their disabled children. To preserve the lives and dignity of infants born with disabilities, systematic and profound changes are necessary in North Korean disability policies to comply with international disability rights standards. This study remains at an exploratory stage due to obstacles in accessing research data on North Korean governmental policies and the lack of credible statistics on persons with disabilities. Nevertheless, the current study offers a deeper insight and understanding of the actual conditions in North Korea. This study is significant as it addresses and shares the issues of human rights and welfare of persons with disabilities in North Korea with the concerned members of the international community.     

中国残疾人事业法治建设三十年之回眸与前瞻

《残疾人保障法》实施30年来,中国残疾人事业法治体系和权利保障机制不断发展完善,促成了残疾人平等享有全面小康生活,也为世界人权话语丰富了“人类命运共同体”内涵,拓展了基于人权的发展路径。在全面建设社会主义现代化新时期,要进一步完善残疾人权利保障的法治体系,需要坚持融合发展原则,注重社会治理和社群赋能策略,在法律能力、无障碍、教育就业和司法保护等领域进行制度革新。     

西方残障身份发展理论述评及本土化思考

积极的残障身份认同对残障者本身具有重要意义,残障身份发展是残障者实现身份认同的路径,理解残障身份发展的过程也可以让残疾人工作者更好地为残障者提供教育、康复等相关服务。本文通过梳理较为典型的西方残障身份发展理论,结合国内残障身份相关研究及本土社会文化背景展开讨论。文章认为,在西方残障身份发展理论框架下,残障者形成积极身份认同的关键在于认同并融入一套在残障社区内共享的残障文化,而在我国社会文化背景下,目前并没有一套成体系的残障文化,残障者也难以体会残障的文化身份感,国内残障者的身份认同缺少本土残障文化依靠。     

Knowledge,Tasks and Strategies for Teaching About Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

Persons with disabilities are a distinct and insular minority group within the United States. Given the fact that social workers offer critical social services to this group, it is important for social work programs to offer meaningful curriculum content on persons with disabilities. This article presents key issues that social work educators should find useful for teaching about persons with disabilities. Specifically, a discussion is offered on the disability civil rights movement, the culture of disability, models for defining disability, knowledge areas on disability issues, teaching tasks and strategies for focusing on persons with disabilities.     

A study of disabled children and child protection in Scotland — A hidden group?

This paper is based on analysis of data collected for a study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, which examined child protection work with disabled children. At a conceptual level, the paper draws on Goffman's frame analysis and on different models of disability. Focus groups were conducted with five Child Protection Committees (40 individuals) and semi-structured interviews with a further 21 practitioners from social work, education, health services, third sector organisations and the police. The findings show that, for various reasons, abuse of disabled children may go undetected. Where it is suspected, effective action does not always follow, for example, where practitioners over-empathise with parents. When child protection work is undertaken, disabled children may remain relatively invisible in terms of participation and professional focus. It is suggested that the ways in which practitioners and managers “frame” disabled children has implications for how abuse is responded to and how well these children are protected. Participants also “framed” disability in different ways, and it is suggested that a social relational model seems particularly applicable. In conclusion, in many respects disabled children experiencing abuse may remain absent from or to some extent hidden within child protection services in Scotland. While some creative work is taking place, considerable changes are required to make child protection services accessible to all disabled children, sensitive to their needs and respectful of their rights.     

疫情之下对残疾人保护的实践与思考

新冠肺炎疫情危机为观察残疾人保护和相关领域社会治理打开了一扇窗口。文章总结了疫情防控期间各级政府、残联和社会组织加强残疾人保护的政策创新和服务实践,反思了疫情发生后残疾人安全防护、兜底保障及应急管理面临的突出问题,提出了做好当前防控阶段残疾人防护和建立疫情灾情之下残疾人保护长效机制的政策建议。文章坚持人道主义的基本立场,认为疫情让我们进一步了解残疾人的脆弱和特别保护的必要性,进一步了解在奔向残疾人全面发展和共同富裕更高目标的出发点上扎牢底线、补好短板的紧迫性,进一步了解无论在危机时期还是常规阶段,残疾人工作都不能偏离国家发展的整体布局,不能背离“政府主导、社会参与”的治理方向。     

Disability rights in practice: the relationship between human rights and social rights in contemporary social care

Using the contemporary arena of social care as an example, this article challenges the either/or dichotomy set up by some disability writers and activists between the favoured civil and human rights on the one hand and discredited social rights on the other. Rather, the article concludes, claims to these differing types of right are mutually reinforcing and can be mobilised strategically in disabled people's struggles for greater social justice. In particular, there is the potential for expanding disabled people's social rights to both direct services and direct payments by enforcing the positive obligations on public authorities conferred by human rights legislation and challenging rationing regimes.     

Claiming loss in disability

Pervasive representations of disability carry associations with the idea of loss. These have been strongly rejected by the social model movement as stereotyping, which may perpetuate views of disabled people as ‘incomplete’, ‘vulnerable’ or needing rehabilitation. Discourses of ‘loss’, ‘acceptance’ and ‘denial’ remain a lens through which disabled persons are misknown. It is posited that ascribed notions of ‘loss’ serve to maintain feelings of control and mastery within the observer, quieting the destablising psychic threat which disability poses. Further, disabled people positioned as having to ‘deny’ imputed loss may be at risk of suffering self‐alienation relating to a mode of being which is (necessarily, understandably) preoccupied with ‘not being’ the personification of stereotype, at the expense of exploring aspects of identity and self; such an orientation embodies unstable foundations for an entitled, articulate disability movement. Conceptual ideas are based on the author’s experience as a disabled group psychotherapist working with severely physically impaired adults.     

Integrating people with disabilities: their right – our responsibility

A full understanding of disability recognizes that it has a powerful human rights dimension and is often associated with social exclusion, and increased exposure and vulnerability to poverty. Disability is a human rights issue. The World Bank (1999) report points out that one in five of the world’s poorest are disabled, for whom access to basic rights is a daily struggle. Though arising from physical or intellectual impairment, disability has social implications as well as health ones. In most countries, government services for disabled people are still small‐scale rehabilitation projects separated from the rest of the community. People with disabilities are amongst the poorest of the poor. Barriers built by disability and poverty can only be removed by the concerted and integrated effort of the government, NGOs, corporates, movie mughals and educational institutions. It is the duty of the rest of society to acknowledge the rights of the poor and the disabled. This can no longer be treated as philanthropy but is a responsibility.     

Disability discrimination in South Korea: routine and everyday aggressions toward disabled people

In the past, the type of discrimination against persons with disabilities in South Korea was seen mainly as being related to the physical environment and social systems that ignored disability. However, the emergence of social model and anti-discrimination laws established in numerous countries has rapidly expanded the scope of social participation for persons with disabilities as well as their awareness of their rights. This article posits that a type of disability discrimination that could emerge in the future is microaggression, which can appear in diverse forms in newly formed human relationships as the scope of social participation increases.     

Cripping sexualities: An analytic review of theoretical and empirical writing on the intersection of disabilities and sexualities

This paper provides a review of some of the literature addressing the juncture of disabilities and sexualities and invites sociologists to build on this work and take part in this important intersectional field. First, I discuss the central relevance of an intersectional lens for making sense of the unique experiences of queer people with disabilities who are located at the crossroads of various stratified systems. Then, I discuss some of the many unique challenges that queer disabled people face when exploring their sexuality, establishing relationships, and remaining sexual. The invisibility, marginalization, and discrimination of queer people with disabilities in both queer and disability communities are the focus on the third section. The fourth section speaks to current theoretical dialogues between disability studies and queer theory that have illuminated new pathways for theorizing the intersection of disabilities and sexualities, “cripping” sociological theories, and reimagining disability within sociology. As I demonstrate, this literature is growing; however, myriad exciting opportunities for empirical and theoretical sociological exploration remain and I will conclude with a discussion of possible directions for future research.     

Embracing the new disability rights paradigm: the importance of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

In 2008 the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) commenced operation. The CRPD has created a dynamic new disability rights paradigm that empowers disability people’s organizations and creates a new paradigm for disability scholars. This paper analyses the impact of the CRPD and provides practical guidance as to how this convention can be used to drive change. Prior to this convention, persons with disabilities were protected by a range of general human rights conventions. Despite receiving nominal protection under general human rights conventions, persons with disabilities have had many of their human rights denied to them. The CRPD goes further than merely re-stating rights. It creates a new rights discourse, empowers civil society and renders human rights more obtainable for person with disabilities than any time in history.     

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.     

Israeli policy toward veterans with disabilities: a snapshot and insights of the proposed reform

The policy toward Israeli veterans with disabilities is based on the Invalids Law (Benefits and Rehabilitation) of 1949 . This legislation has served as the foundation for an intricate disability policy, providing benefits and psychosocial services for veterans with disabilities. Sixty two years later, in light of the emergence of a new social model and disability rights conceptualization, there is a need to reevaluate the current legislation and policy. In this article the authors present the essence of the current Israeli disability policy and explore the applications of a proposed reform aimed at adapting the disability policy and services to the new principles of the social model of disability.     

Navigating the ethical maze in disability research: ethical contestations in an African context

Despite changes in how disability is viewed, ethical requirements for disability research have hardly changed. Some ethical clearance procedures, processes and practices still consider persons with disabilities as not able, creating unease among researchers and research participants with disabilities themselves. This paper considers five ethical contestations arising from research in the area of disability in an African context: positionality, vulnerability, signed consent, anonymity, and research committee composition. We argue that ethical requirements in practice are still largely based on a medical model of disability and propose that culturally sensitive social and human rights models should influence disability research ethics.     

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.