The Effect of Social Work Education and Self-Esteem on Students' Social Discrimination of People with Disabilities

Social work education on disability content has become more important due to political changes in the last two decades. The United States protected people with disabilities from discrimination in community and employment settings with the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. These changes have empowered people with disabilities to become more independent; however, social workers primarily fulfill roles as case managers, and often make decisions for people with disabilities. This is not consistent with the empowerment perspective embedded in the disability movement. Most social work schools have minimal courses covering disability content. Previous research and the Self-Esteem Hypothesis indicate that social work education, social proximity to people with disabilities, self-esteem and other demographic characteristics are associated with social discrimination, or attitudes, toward people with disabilities. Social work students (n = 73) participated in a survey in the last semester of their program to assess how these characteristics were associated with their attitudes towards people with disabilities. A multiple linear regression revealed that social work education preparedness to work with people with disabilities, an MSW education, self-esteem, and having a friend with a disability were significantly associated with students' social discrimination towards people with disabilities.     

An Exploratory Study on Attitudes Toward Persons with Disabilities Among U.S. and Japanese Social Work Students

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study was conducted to understand and compare attitudes among social work students in the United States and Japan toward people with disabilities. The Modified Issues in Disabilities Scale (MIDS), designed to measure attitudes toward people with physical disabilities, was implemented on convenient samples of 92 U.S. and 73 Japanese social work students. The findings suggest that social work students in both countries hold moderately positive attitudes. Other similarities as well as differences among the sampled students from the two countries, and their implications to social work education, will be discussed in this paper.     

Variables that affect teachers' attitudes towards disability and inclusive education in Mumbai, India

Teacher attitude is one of the most important variables in the education of children with disabilities. Attitudes of general educators in the city of Mumbai, India, toward disabilities and inclusion of students with disabilities into regular schools were studied through the usage of two attitude scales. The study investigated whether variable background characteristics such as age, gender, income level, education levels, years of teaching experience, acquaintance with a person with a disability, having a family member with a disability, frequency of contact and closeness to a person with disability affect the attitudes of teachers towards people with disabilities and towards inclusion of students with disabilities into regular schools. The analyses revealed that while some of the variables of interest did affect teachers' attitudes towards disabilities, the only variable that affected teachers' attitudes towards inclusion was prior acquaintance with a person with a disability.     

An evaluation of the Kids are Kids disability awareness program: increasing social inclusion among children with physical disabilities

Despite the intent of integration to promote positive social interactions between children with and without disabilities, there is growing concern that many children with special needs who are in inclusive settings feel socially isolated. The evaluation of interventions designed to promote disability awareness is critical if we are to increase opportunities for social success for these children. This research study was designed to determine whether the Kids Are Kids (KAK) program can positively impact the attitudes of children toward their peers with physical disabilities, as well as increase the social inclusion of these children. Results suggest that the KAK program had a positive impact on the attitudes of children toward their peers with disabilities, immediately following the program. Where social skill building was provided to 1 target child, attitude scores for that class remained elevated 1 month after the program. Two of the 3 target children reported increased social inclusion 1 month after the program.     

Toward a Holistic View of Health and Health Promotion in Social Work with People with Disabilities

Abstract

The individual medically oriented model of disability suggests that people with disabilities seldom achieve health and wellness because of their impairments and disabilities. This paper provides an alternative to the tendency in social work to focus on the medicalization of disability without a due consideration of the social context. It draws insights from the social model that asserts disability is a form of social restriction encountered by people with disabilities and that social barriers of disability must be removed through collective action. Also, this model posits that people with disabilities can be healthy if the barriers preventing good health are removed. However, medical aspects of a person with a disability should not be forsaken entirely. Therefore, this article proposes a holistic view that converges insights of the individual and social models toward a better understanding of health issues for people with disabilities. It shows the implications for social work that follow from the convergence.     

Editorial

Abstract

This comprehensive research study examined how schools of social work in Canada have responded to disability issues. The study focused upon specific policies and practices ofthe Canadian schools of social work which have been developed to create a more inclusive environment for students, staff, and faculty members with disabilities and to prepare students for practice in dealing with individuals who are disabled. A ten page survey consisting of closed and opened-ended questions was sent to the deans and directors of the thirty-five schools of social work in Canada. This study found that although there have been significant changes in these schools over the last ten years, there are many barriers to disability inclusion from recruitment and admissions; accommodations; retention, graduation, and employment; curriculum; hiring faculty and staff with disabilities; and university relations/resources. It concludes with recommendations for schools of social work.     

‘It didn’t come up on my radar’: an examination of students’ orientation toward disability justice in the US

Abstract

While social justice is a well-recognized concept, it is less frequently examined through the lens of disability. In order to address existing gaps within social justice education, this qualitative case study investigates how participation in a semester-long Introduction to Disability Studies (IDS) course affected students’ orientation toward disability justice, or the conception of disability as an issue of social justice. The framework underpinning this research merges Cipolle’s theory of critical consciousness development with disability-based constructs. Findings reveal that participation in IDS allowed participants to develop an awareness of their ability privilege, understand the experiences of peers with disabilities, increase their social awareness of disability, and consider their work as disability allies. This article concludes with recommendations for social justice educators who are interested in applying disability justice practices.     

Social work field education: believing in supervisors who are living with disabilities

Much of what is written by non-disabled authors about living with disabilities does not mirror people’s experiences or opportunities. Literature is often written about people’s abilities (or disabilities) rather than by or with people. Discourse about supervision of social work students can risk assuming that supervisors are people who do not identify as living with disabilities. This research is a co-operative inquiry into the experience of being an Australian social work student supervisor who is living with disabilities. The article extends the literature about being a social work field educator to include ability, and values the practice wisdom of experienced social workers including a current student supervisor who is living with a disability.     

Development of children's understandings of physical disabilities and stigmatization in a Japanese cultural context: Reflections of children in second through sixth grades

Stigmatization associated with disability is a culturally widespread social justice issue. Elementary school age is an important period for children to develop positive attitudes toward people with disabilities. This study examines Japanese elementary school-aged children's developing perceptions of disability and stigmatization. Following interactions and discussion about disabilities with the author, a guest teacher who uses a wheelchair, 118 typically-developing Japanese children in second through sixth grades provided written reflections on physical disability and stigmatization. Children in all grade levels described both positive and negative aspects of disability. Younger children's responses, however, were relatively positive, focusing on concrete examples of life in a wheelchair. Older children's responses focused more on challenges, and articulated their feelings and thoughts about disability in greater detail. Some older children also used the author's disability narratives to describe how they had overcome their own challenges that were not necessarily related to disability. Such differences in children's responses by grade levels are discussed in the context of Japanese socialization practices that emphasize sensitivity to stigmatization as well as empathy to maintain interpersonal relationships. Implications of Japanese cultural cases to professionals in Western countries also are discussed.     

Social Work Students' Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Their Knowledge and Attitudes toward Homosexual Parenting as an Alternative Family Unit: An Australian Study

Attitudes have become increasingly more accepting toward homosexuality, yet negative attitudes toward homosexual parents continue. There appears to be no research specifically examining Australian social work students' attitudes towards homosexuality and homosexual parenting. This article reports on a study of final year social work students in the undergraduate social work programme at one university in the State of Victoria. This study investigated student attitudes to homosexuality, and their knowledge and attitudes toward homosexual parenting as an alternative family unit via the administration of a questionnaire containing a number of scales and questions, some in response to a case vignette involving couples of different sexual orientations (lesbian, gay and heterosexual). It was found that most of the students had liberal attitudes toward homosexuality and homosexual parenting, and had high levels of knowledge about homosexual parenting. Students were generally favourable towards all three couples in the vignettes, but rated lesbian parents followed by gay parents most highly. It was found that the inclusion of the topic of homosexuality within the social work curriculum was extremely minimal. These findings are discussed within the context of previous research. The implications of the findings for curriculum development and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Response to Dr. Blythe

The education of social work students with regard to issues of social and cultural diversity has been a mandate of the Council on Social Work Education for over a decade. This mandate requires social work educators to increase students’ awareness of their own biases and to evaluate changes in students’ attitudes as they are exposed to content on diverse populations. In this endeavor, valid and reliable measures of attitude change can be a useful evaluation tool to assess instructional effectiveness. This article summarizes a variety of available instruments for measuring attitudes toward race, ethnicity, gender, sex stereotyping, physical disability, and age.     

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.     

Effects of an Educational Unit About Lesbian Identity Development and Disclosure in a Social Work Methods Course

This article describes an investigation of the effects of a short-term educational intervention on graduate social work students’ attitudes toward lesbians and gay men, their knowledge about lesbian identity development and disclosure, and their anticipated professional behavior with lesbian clients. The author describes the importance of reducing homophobia among social work students and presents a theoretical framework for the educational intervention used in this study. Although knowledge acquisition significantly increased among students in both of the study’s treatment groups relative to the comparison group, and although students from one treatment group showed significant improvement in their attitudes toward gay men relative to the comparison group, neither treatment group significantly improved in their attitudes toward lesbians or their anticipated professional behavior with lesbian clients relative to the comparison group.     

Challenges,Barriers, and Opportunities: Social Workers With Disabilities and Experiences in Field Education

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of social work students with disabilities in field education. This qualitative inquiry used semistructured interviews exploring inclusion and accommodations in field education. The 15 participants were graduates of accredited BSW or MSW programs and reported one to five disabilities each. Four themes emerged: different experiences with visible versus invisible disability, confusion about accommodation, field as a learning opportunity regarding disability, and a sense of isolation being a social worker with a disability. This study provides information valuable to social work educators and field instructors regarding strategies for improving opportunities for students with disabilities as future social workers, aligning with the mission and values of the social work profession.     

Children in Foster Care: A Longitudinal Investigation,by David Fanshel and Eugene B. Shinn. Columbia University Press,New York, 1978. $25. 520 Pp.

This article presents findings of an exploratory study addressing social work program practices regarding psychiatric disabilities among social work students. An e-mail invitation to participate in an online survey was sent to approximately 875 social work educators, with 71 individuals choosing to participate. The findings indicated that 88% of respondents were in programs that had made accommodations and slightly less than 33% were in programs that had psychiatric disability policies. A positive relationship between ratings of the effectiveness of the accommodations and ratings of employability of students with psychiatric disabilities was found. These findings suggest that additional studies are needed to identify effective ways to deal with the complex legal and educational issues involved with accommodations and support.     

Social Work Admissions and Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

ABSTRACT

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects students wth disabilities from discrimination by academic and professional programs in higher education. A student with a disability cannot be denied admission to an educational program because of his or her disability if the student is otherwise qualified. This means that a student with a disability who is qualified for an academic or professional educational program cannot be denied admission to a program based solely on the student&s disability. This educational requirement mandated by the ADA applies to all educational fields including social work education. The purpose of this study was to explore how social work programs are dealing with these requirements in their admission and academic accommodation procedures. Twelve social work programs located in the mid-western United States participated in the study. Representatives of each of these programs were given an in-depth interview focusing on their admissions process, academic accommodations, and general topics related to social work education and disabilities. All programs taking part in the research were accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). The CSWE is the national accreditation body for social work education within the United States.     

Attitudes of social work students towards older people

Demographic ageing is a challenge for many countries. Even though Turkey has a relatively younger demographic composition, the proportion of the older people (65+) within the population is rapidly increasing. Within this framework, older people are becoming more important clients for both social work students and social workers in Turkey. This study aims to reveal the attitudes of social work students towards older people and determine the various factors that affect their views on older persons. In the scope of the project, Kogan's Attitude Towards Old People Scale was applied to 419 social work undergraduate students at a university located in Central Anatolia. The findings showed that social work students scored a mean of 130.96 and they generally had positive attitudes towards older people. The correlation between year of study, gender and age was not statistically significant. However, having lived mostly in urban areas was positively correlated with the mean Kogan scores and this finding was found to be statistically significant. Exposure to personal contact with older people at both the personal and professional levels was influential in shaping attitudes about the older people.     

Work place issues surrounding healthcare professionals with disabilities in the current labor market

Healthcare professionals, nurses with and without disabilities, administrators and personnel directors were surveyed to explore hiring practices and attitudes towards working with nurses with disabilities employed in clinical settings. Specifically the purpose of the study was to gather and analyze data regarding the perceptions of two groups towards nurses with disabilities: 1) employers and 2) other nurses (with and without a disability). The study defined a nurse with a disability as an RN who has an activity limitation, specifically an altered activity capability which limits mobility, ambulation, strength, coordination, or equilibrium. Findings suggest that nurses are more likely to be willing to work with an RN with a disability if they had worked with one in the past. However, overall acceptance of RNs with disabilities was not broad.     

Involving People with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities in Social Work Education: Building Inclusive Practice

Abstract

Service user and carer engagement is a foundational requirement of social work education. Despite this, questions remain about how diverse experiences are represented and who might be excluded from involvement. This paper focusses on one group of people who it is suggested are excluded from involvement, people with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Evidence is presented which demonstrates the extent to which this group have been marginalised and excluded from processes of involvement. The paper then provides a case study of one universities’ experience of developing work in this area, when a man with profound and multiple learning disabilities was commissioned to design and deliver specialist teaching for a group of qualifying social work students. We argue that the main barrier to inclusive involvement for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities is the attitudes and assumption of others about what they are capable of. We demonstrate how involvement in social work education helps to address these barriers by challenging the assumptions of students, the academy and society more broadly.