‘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.     

‘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.     

I’m not like everybody else: urbanization factors shaping spatial distribution of native and invasive ants are species-specific

Urbanization is a major global change inducing complex and multiple modifications of landscapes and ecosystems. The spatial distributions of organisms experiencing these modifications will likely shift specifically, depending on each species’ response to each environmental modification induced by urbanization. We sampled two ant genera (Lasius and Tetramorium) at 1248 locations along an urbanization gradient in Lyon, France and used high resolution spatial layers for 18 spatial (e.g., open habitat fragmentation, bioclimatic data and surface temperatures) and temporal (e.g., comparison of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index between 1986 and 2015) environmental variables associated with urbanization. Coupling two different analytical methods (Outlying Mean Index and Boosted Regression Trees), we showed that each species’ distribution was influenced by its own combination of environmental factors. Two morphologically cryptic Tetramorium species (T. sp.E and T. sp.U2) were both highly abundant but with opposite responses to urbanization: while T. sp.E was favored by urbanized habitat, T. sp.U2 avoided urbanized areas. Among Lasius species, we detected 63 occurrences of the invasive ant Lasius neglectus, the distribution of which was favored only by embankments along roads. We found that, even at this reduced spatial scale, climatic effects influenced most species and interacted with urbanization factors.     

‘Goldman-Sachs doesn’t care if you raise chicken’: the challenges of resistant prefiguration

This article addresses debates in the ‘post-Occupy movement’ over the resistant potential of prefigurative politics, and asks how prefiguration can be conceptualized as resistance in relation to activists’ understanding of politics, power and social change. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with activists in New York City, it looks at anarchist politics after Occupy Wall Street (OWS). Here, the absence of spectacular moments of confrontation and the removal of OWS’s space of mobilization and organizing challenged activists to adjust their prefigurative politics to the shifting spaces post-Occupy. This paper advances our understanding of prefigurative politics by conceptualizing prefiguration as resistance in consideration of the elements of ‘intent’, ‘recognition’, ‘opposition/confrontation’ and ‘creation’. Following this, it introduces the ‘logic of subtraction’ as a concept to understand the resistant potential of prefiguration. Here, I argue that rather than being in an antagonistic relationship with dominant power, resistant prefiguration aims for the creation of alternatives while subtracting power from the state, capital or any other external authority in order to render it obsolete. This understanding allows for a nuanced consideration of the proactive and creative potential of prefiguration, as well as of the difficulties of prefigurative practices in shifting movement spaces.     

‘We are Hungry but We Won’t Eat the Food’: Schoolchildren’s ‘Thin’ agency and its impacts on the implementation of Ghana’s School Feeding Programme

Following the introduction of the concept of agency by the New Sociology of Childhood, the concept has dominated discourses about children's everyday lives. Nevertheless, little is known about schoolchildren's agency in their daily interactions with the service providers of Ghana's school feeding programme. Through this qualitative study, the paper provides empirical evidence to show how children in restrictive contexts exercise ‘thin’ agency in their interactions with frontline service providers, leading to significant improvements in the quality of services delivered to them. Consequently, the article questions Michael Lipsky's assumption that clients have minimal effect on the services delivered to them.     

“Don’t Argue with the Members”

Mel Pollner regularly cautioned researchers not to argue with the members of settings under consideration. He warned against substituting the researcher’s meaning for the meanings of those being studied. This article discusses facets of the caution as they relate to the research process. Seemingly simple, the tenet is nuanced in application. The article adds to the nuance by distinguishing what is called the “replacement” of meaning with the “displacement” of meaning, providing a way of understanding what members could mean if the contexts and settings of their accounts were taken into consideration.     

We Don’t Belong Here: Adolescents of North Korean Refugee Families and Their Suicidal Behaviors

Despite the increasing number of studies that examine the link between immigration and suicide in Korean youths, most have focused on self-harming behaviours among adolescents in multicultural families, while much less attention has been directed towards those in North Korean (NK) refugee families. This paper addresses this gap by comparing three determinants of suicidal behaviours across three groups of Korean adolescents. Data are drawn from the KYRBS, a nationally representative sample of students in middle and high schools, and the results indicate that NK youths were 87.2 per cent more likely to have suicidal ideation than their South Korean peers, that they are 3.7 times more likely to experience suicidal plans and 4.1 times more likely to attempt suicide. These results clearly suggest that immigrant youths, including NK refugees, are confronting significant difficulties with assimilation, and those disadvantages lead to a higher propensity of self-threatening behaviours.     

Some things in life can’t be ‘Googled:’ A narrative synthesis of three key questions in outdoor education.

In countries worldwide, Outdoor Education (OE) offers rich possibilities for learning. OE has been researched for many decades; however the field lacks an integrating framework for its different historical, geographical and disciplinary conceptualisations. The outcomes of OE programmes are well documented and appear diverse, yet also have common attributes suggesting there is scope for unifying approaches. Although substantive barriers to the conduct of OE programmes have been identified, these have seldom been synthesised. This paper offers a narrative review of the literature addressing three key questions designed to look rearward at where OE has come from: (i) how is OE conceptualised, and what theoretical models have been used in OE? (ii) what evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of OE programmes? (iii) what are the barriers to conducting OE programmes? The paper then advances onward with an integrated framework for reconceptualising OE and providing insights into how the field may be strengthened and augmented.20124     

Can’t We Just Live Together? New Evidence on the Effect of Relationship Status on Health

There has been a large empirical literature on the effect of marriage on health, but scant empirical evidence on the effect of cohabitation on health, although cohabitation is increasingly common. We contributed to this literature in three ways. First we explicitly modeled cohabitation distinct from marriage. Second, we included lagged health in our models to address the dynamic process of health and health-related selection into relationships. Extant literature has failed to control for lagged health risking omitted variable bias. Rather, it has controlled for general unobservable heterogeneity using fixed effects models that have relied on limited variation in relationship status over time to identify the effect of relationship status on health. Third, we employed a continuous health index that aids in estimation and inference of dynamic models. Using the Blundell and Bond dynamic panel data estimator and 18 years of the British Household Panel Survey of nearly 18,000 adults, we found that being in a relationship is good for health, but the benefits are not unique to marriage. Our finding that cohabitation is as beneficial as marriage for health was good news for health policy as changing social norms and economic instability have delayed or impaired family formation.     

Parents’ and Professionals’ Perceptions of the Services of Families of Children with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities

This study aims to investigate differences in perception among Kuwaiti parents, teachers, and employees regarding the services that are needed in different special education settings. The participants (n = 135) included 45 parents of children with intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD), 63 teachers in special education schools, and 27 employees working in the Higher Council of the Disabled. A survey was conducted using Hassan’s (The needs of parents of children with disabilities in relationship with child’s age, gender, and type of disability, 1992) Arabic version of the Family Need Inventory. The findings showed differences in perception among parents, teachers, and employees regarding what they consider to be the most important services for families of children with IDD. Another result showed significant differences in perception among the three groups regarding services (match or/and mismatch of responses), except for 3 out of 35 types of services. Suggestions and implications are discussed to provide information to social service providers to help them evaluate the laws that pertain to disability in Kuwait. The findings of this study will help social service providers determine and implement laws that meet the needs of parents of children with IDD and give them the right to be full partners in their children’s education.     

Historiography and transformation of ethnic identity in the Mongol Empire: the Öng’üt case

Throughout their history, Inner Asian empires used familiar imperial institutions to rapidly impose new ethnic designations and their attendant languages, such as ‘Türk’ or ‘Mongol’, on their subjects. The swiftness of this integration into new ethnic designations should not be taken to mean that this integration was painless, however. In the well-documented Mongol empire, for example, this incorporation was extremely traumatic for many Inner Asian ethnic groups, even where the subordinate local elites achieved high status in the new regime. This may be seen in the case of the Öng’üt, a Christian Turkic-speaking people of Inner Mongolia whose rulers then became key marriage partners of the Mongol aristocracy. Successive iterations of the origin story of the Öng’üt rulers show how these histories went through vast changes as they were forcibly incorporated into the new empire, and dealt with the internal conflicts sparked by that incorporation. Previously central parts of their historic past, such as Christianity and service as border guards to the previous Jin dynasty, had to be marginalized and a new historical past had to be created. Historiography thus reflected and shaped changes in ethnic identity in a traumatic dynastic transition.     

‘Don’t discriminate against minority nationalities’: practicing Tibetan ethnicity on social media

Through an analysis of popular posts Tibetans shared over the social media application WeChat in 2013 and 2014 and offline discussions about them, this paper shows how Tibetans living in and traveling through Xining City practiced and performed their ethnic identity in the face of perceived harassment. Through their viral posts, they created a cyber-community that contributed to Tibetan ethnic group formation when Tibetans interpreted their ethnic identity as the basis for unjust treatment by the Chinese state and private Han individuals. In online posts the Han are portrayed as harassing Tibetans after terror attacks across China, violating minzu rights, denigrating Tibetan culture and territory, and denying Tibetans equal footing as modern compatriots. Social media are changing the ‘representational politics’ of Tibetan ethnicity, altering participation in the representation of the Tibetan ethnic group. Still, online discourse remains subject to constraints; private offline discussions remain important fora of opinion exchange.     

Women’s Experiences with Infertility: The Fluidity of Conceptualizations of ‘Family’

In this study, I examine women’s experiences with infertility and the impact upon their conceptualizations of ‘family.’ Active interviews with 32 women revealed most women started out with conceptualizations that reflected a traditional ideology of family. Participants who conceived biological children through medical assistance expressed a broader conceptualization of family through a greater appreciation for their children and family life in general. Women who did not conceive, despite medical assistance to do so, also discussed broadening their conceptualizations so that ‘family’ took on new meanings, structures, and/or significance. Conceptually, the analysis shows how notions of family are not static, but rather a fluid process subject to interpretation and re-evaluation as a result of life events, in this case, encounters with infertility.     

From ‘for’ to ‘of’: a typology of Maltese disability organisations

The main aim of this article is to adapt the Typology of Disability Organisations that Oliver devised, and subsequently developed further in 1990, to a different context, in this case the Maltese disability sector. The paper first traces the history of the disabled people’s movement and presents Oliver’s Typology, which makes a clear distinction between organisations for and of disabled persons. The article then highlights the main characteristics of the Maltese disability sector and develops the Typology of the organisations operating within that sector. It shows how it is non-disabled people that are mostly in control of disability organisations, and suggests ways in which there can be a stronger movement towards the development and strengthening of disabled people’s organisations. The article shows how Oliver’s Typology can be used flexibly and adapted to various contexts. It also shows how drawing up a Typology of Disability Organisations can shed light on the environment within which these organisations operate, identifying areas of strength and possible areas for growth.     

Don’t Worry,She’ll Say it: A Tribute to Florence Lieberman

This paper presents a tribute to Florence Lieberman, a significant leader in the field of Clinical Social Work, who has been and continues to be highly productive and vastly influential. Throughout her career Florence has published books and articles that result from her intense and accurate concerns about social work practice, and particularly about practice with children. Florences academic career includes 20 years at Hunter College School of Social Work in New York. As an influential member of the Hunter faculty, she has played an important role in shaping the impact of social work philosophy on psychotherapy practice. Starting with her Charter membership in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), she has been influential in the development of the Federation of Societies for Clinical Social Work (Federation), the National Academy of Practice (NAP), and the International Committee on the Advancement of Private Practice (ICAPP). Leadership, empowerment, and adherence to Social Works mission are themes that Florence Lieberman has enacted throughout her stellar career. The author discusses his experience with her, which illustrate these essential characteristics.Presented at the International Committee on the Advancement of Private Practice (ICAPP) Meeting on June 9, 2004.     

College Students’ Perceptions of Media Portrayals of Divorce

This study takes an exploratory, qualitative approach to examine college students’ perceptions about divorce in the media. Findings suggest that participants perceived both positive and negative representations of divorced families in the media they consume, highlighting the complex nature of navigating and communicating through a divorce. Specifically, college students reported on aspects of the ex-spousal relationship, how children are affected, and the contrast between life pre- and postdivorce. An inductive theme analysis revealed several positive and negative media representations of divorce. Largely, college students perceive media messages about divorce to be accurate portrayals and impactful representations.     

Students’ conceptualisations of critical reflection

Critical reflection involves the identification of deeply seated assumptions about the social world and the individual’s connection with it; however, its scope and practice are contested. While ambivalence about its definition remains, critical reflection is described as a threshold concept in social welfare and social work education. This study investigated students’ conceptualisations of critical reflection by analysing the ‘learned’ critical reflection curricula of five core units in an Australian University. A content analysis of 162 assignments submitted by 86 students in 2013 and 2014 was conducted. Findings revealed students conceptualised critical reflection as a process that raised self-awareness, supported the application of theory in practice and, reinforced aspects of their professional identity. However, students adapted the process to fit their purpose and, when personal views clashed with professional practice, rather than examining the tensions that emerged, students privileged professional practice and silenced their personal views. Students did not engage with critical reflection to foster social change; rather their utilitarian approach positioned them to demonstrate competence in professional procedures. These findings highlight the influence of the contexts within which critical reflection is practised and informs the further development of the authors’ pedagogy.