The unemployment of women with physical disabilities in Ghana: issues and recommendations

Unemployment among persons with disabilities is high. The situation is worse for women with disabilities as they experience multiple disadvantages on account of gender and disability. The condition for women with disabilities in Ghana could be more complicated, given the intersection of disability, gender, poverty, cultural beliefs and practices. As employment provides not only income for women with disabilities but opportunities for social participation and increases psychological well-being as well as self-esteem, it is imperative to remove barriers that hinder their employment. The current study examines issues associted with the unemployment of women with physical disabilities in Tamale, Ghana, and makes recommendations to policy-makers and practitioners in order to improve the condition of persons with disabilities in general, and particularly women with disabilities.     

Examining More Inclusive Approaches to Social Work,Physical Disability,and Sexuality

People with disabilities often experience the idea that those with disabilities are not, or should not be, sexual beings. This article examines how people with physical disabilities define sexual activity, their levels of sexual satisfaction, group differences in how people define different acts as sexual activities, and the differences in levels of sexual satisfaction. Additionally, this study (N?=?450) looks at the correlations between levels of independence in multiple contexts. Levels of independence are also assessed in relationship to severity of disability and sexual satisfaction. Implications for social work and social service practice, education, and policy are discussed.     

Disability and conflict: exploring how the peace process in Northern Ireland assesses and addresses the needs of persons with disabilities

This article suggests that attempts to address the needs of persons with disabilities in the post-conflict setting have been largely characterized by a medicalized understanding of disability. In so doing, it neglects an assessment and comprehensive attempt to address the impact of structural and cultural violence on the opportunities and quality of life of persons with disabilities. Accordingly, the article suggests an elicitive approach to post-conflict efforts informed by the social model of disability to better assess and address the needs of persons with disabilities in a post-conflict society.     

Barriers to employment: voices of physically disabled rural women in Thailand

Employment is an essential activity that can generate income for people with disabilities, but very little is known about the interplay between disabled women, family and paid jobs. This article, therefore, sets forth a qualitative method for examining barriers that affect the employment opportunities of physically disabled women. Findings drawn from face-to-face interviews with 20 physically disabled women who live in rural poverty in Thailand clearly indicate that physical barriers from built environment, personal limitations; attitudinal barriers from the non-disabled community, especially employers; and over-protection from families limit their employment opportunities. Despite showing their interests in the labour market, these women are still left behind and trapped in rural poverty. The author argues that this situation is due to the non-disabled community ignoring the potential of these women. The author also recommends that the government of Thailand, NGOs and disability organisations should introduce strong tailored interventions and a multifaceted approach to address the medical, social and legal aspects of restricted participation in the labour market in order to improve the employment prospects of women with physical disabilities.     

Romanian approach to media portrayals of disability

There is a wide range of media representations of disability, but not just because of the societal stigma. They are a function of norms of journalism as well as biases among people with disabilities themselves. This article is a contribution to the issue of social representation of persons with disabilities from a Romanian perspective, which will help to witness the transformation of the general perception of persons with disabilities by seeing the evolution of the terms used to name disability in crucial years of the socio‐political development of Romania (1989, 1990 and 2003). The existence of different categories of representations will reveal the evolution of society, which switched from a culture of protection to a culture of promotion for people with disabilities.     

The disability divide in internet access and use

The increasing spread of the Internet holds much potential for enhancing opportunities for people with disabilities. However, scarce evidence exists to suggest that people with disabilities are, in fact, participating in these new developments. Will the spread of information technologies (IT) increase equality by offering opportunities for people with disabilities? Or will a growing reliance on IT lead to more inequality by leaving behind certain portions of the population including people with disabilities? In this paper, the authors draw on nationally representative data regarding Americans' Internet uses to (1) identify the extent to which people with disabilities are embracing use of the Internet; (2) how their use of the Internet compares with the Internet uses of the rest of the population; (3) how having a disability relates to and interacts with other social statuses (e.g. socioeconomic status, age, gender) with regard to Internet use; and (4) what explains these trends. They draw on representative data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census of the United States to answer these questions. It is found that people with disabilities are less likely to live in households with computers, are less likely to use computers and are less likely to be online. However, once socioeconomic background is controlled for, it is found that people with hearing disabilities and those who have limited walking ability are not less likely to be Internet users. This research enables a deeper understanding of both the use of the Internet by people with disabilities and the spread of new IT more generally.     

Applying a social model of disability across the life span

With an estimated 21.3% of persons aged 15 and older experiencing disability in the USA, social workers will see clients present with disabilities across all practice settings and stages of human development. Yet, the training and terminology of social workers—which often closely aligns with medical professionals—may seem to occur in isolating silos or disciplinary theories. Social work education often views the needs of older adults and people with disabilities as two distinct populations, despite the fact that many of these individuals share similar needs for access, resources, and support. Furthermore, when discussing human development, the focus may skew to individual affective, behavioral, and cognitive processes and indicators of abnormal development and frailty. Thus, by clarifying terminology and applying a social model of disability across the life span, we identify how educational efforts related to human behavior and the social environment can promote intersectional and inclusive social work related to aging and 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.     

Digital identities – overcoming visual bias through virtual embodiment

ABSTRACT

This study sheds new light on the role of identity in virtual environments when virtual representation of self is in support of disabled individuals and the potential impact of their virtual identity on work opportunities. It is widely understood that individuals who live with disability often experience a lifetime of bullying, exclusion, marginalization and rejection. They often experience workplace bias and discrimination. Yet, when they can create an identity and experience embodiment in virtual environments, the results can be extraordinarily powerful – even life-changing. This research builds on nearly a decade of ethnographic research in 3D online immersive social virtual worlds; seven of those years working with disability communities to answer the following: RQ1: In a virtual world where one can choose any avatar form, how does that visual sense of self-representation influence one’s ability to gain access to a social network, to be a leader in that network, and to find work? RQ2: How does realism in representation influence work experiences in these digital worlds? The results reveal the importance of choice in online representation of avatars in creating work and online social engagement. Implications contribute to our understanding of visual bias in the workplace and how emerging virtual reality technologies may open new avenues for meaningful work and social interactions for people with disabilities.     

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.     

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.     

Contributions of tourism to social inclusion of persons with disability

Tourism, although a relevant part of the modern lifestyle in economically more developed countries, is even in these countries not accessible to all, with particular barriers existing for persons with disabilities. These barriers are not only physical, but also internal, cultural and social. Tourism and leisure have revealed many benefits for individuals with a disability, enhancing personal development, quality of life, recovery and contribution to social inclusion. This article discusses the potential of tourism for people with disability and presents the results of an exploratory study undertaken in Portugal aiming at a better understanding of this market and its profile, desires and constraints experienced when participating in holidays and leisure activities. This information should contribute to the debate on the potential contributions of tourism to improving social inclusion of persons with disability, while simultaneously permitting tourism providers to better integrate this group in their clientele.     

Disability Services and College Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

Abstract

Weiner (1999) has suggested that the process of accepting a disability and its associated limitations is often protracted for students with psychiatric disabilities, thus leaving many students unable to fully participate in services or in the design of academic accommodations. This research examines the relationship between psychiatric disability identity and use of academic accommodation services for 57 undergraduates with psychiatric impairments who are experiencing problems in their academic functioning. Willingness to utilize services was related to students' identification as having a psychiatric disability. Social work interventions are needed to support students in accepting psychiatric disabilities while concurrently crafting necessary accommodations.     

A Youth Perspective on Life with a Disability

Abstract

A momentous piece of legislation, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 provided for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities and more significantly is aimed toward improving their employment opportunities. There is, however, evidence that the ADA implementation has not moved fast enough in increasing employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. This article reviews the literature on disability and employment barriers, federal statutes, societal attitudes and biases, and human relations misconceptions associated with disabilities. It discusses social work roles, advocacy for social justice, implications for rehabilitation counselors, and issues related to disabilities and employment.     

Forced marriage of people with learning disabilities: a human rights issue

This paper reports some of the findings of an exploratory study which sought to better understand the demographics of forced marriage of people with learning disabilities and the contexts in which such marriages may occur. It was found that forced marriages of people with and without learning disabilities showed broad similarities in relation to ethnicity, some differences in terms of age and substantial differences in terms of gender. Men and women with learning disabilities are equally likely to be victims of forced marriage. The reasons for people with learning disabilities being forced to marry are most often associated with a desire on the part of families to secure permanent care, but can also be associated with cultural (mis)understandings of the nature of disability. These findings are contextualised by considering the relationship between forced marriage, human rights and learning disability.     

An Analysis of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

In this paper, the author overviews the key components of the ADA. A discussion is offered on why and how persons with disabilities are discriminated against. The standard stereotypes often heard about persons with disabilities are offered. Critical United States Supreme Court decisions are presented; these decisions have greatly limited the power of the ADA in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Even though the United States Supreme Court has narrowed the impact of the ADA in American life, a number of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases are presented, suggesting this federal agency is attempting to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination. The final part of the paper deals with the topic of advocacy; advocacy may well be one of the most effective tools to help insure that the rights of people with disabilities are protected in the 21st century.     

Qualitative inquiry of sibling relationships: reinforcement of disability devaluation through the exclusion of voices

People with disabilities share a history and culture of marginalization and oppression. In disability studies, disability has been re-defined as an inability or limitation in performance of the roles and tasks expected of individuals within society which excludes people from becoming full participants in social, cultural, and political affairs. Disability research has traditionally been ‘on’ rather than ‘with’ people with disabilities. This article examines how qualitative sibling disability research has been conducted, with a particular focus on the exclusion of people with disabilities.     

Friend or foe: the media’s power to inform and shape societal attitudes towards people with acquired brain injury

Media representations play an integral role in modern society, informing the public about a range of issues affecting their communities. Using qualitative content analysis, this article reports on the study of a sample of Australian media coverage, spanning 30 years, covering issues associated with acquired brain injury (ABI) and related cognitive disabilities. The analysis explores how the media both portray and actively shape public perceptions about people living with ABI, the lived experience of the condition, and its broader social implications. The authors identify a range of themes arising in the sample that communicate specific ideas about ABI, disability, and deviance. Importantly, they identify how these themes are able to either construct or reinforce dominant understandings of disability and deviance through both their content and structure.     

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.     

Policies supporting participation in leisure activities for children and youth with disabilities in Canada: from policy to play

Children with disabilities are at risk for lower participation in leisure. This study maps and analyzes disability-related leisure policies in Canada. Policy mapping and analysis were performed based on scope, social justice, disability models, and use of evidence. Few policies use scientific evidence, and their scope in supporting participation is often limited to organized sports, transportation, and financial incentives/exemptions. Few policies exist to support leisure promotion for children with disabilities. Action plans, benchmarking, and uptake measurement are rarely identified. Research-based evidence can be used to support socially-just policies to promote participation in leisure. Families should be able to identify mechanisms to guarantee access to their rights. Researchers, service providers, and families can use this framework of policy mapping and analysis to identify gaps where evidence can support policy development, to use these policies where services are needed, and to foster participation of children with disabilities in leisure.