Disabling Ideology in Health and Welfare - the case of occupational therapy

In this paper it is argued, on the basis of an analysis of data from interviews with practitioners, that the rhetoric of partnership and the 'holistic' approach employed by Occupational Therapists is to be understood as an ideology which serves the occupation's professionalising project. It functions to distinguish Occupational Therapy from other health and welfare specialisms, to perpetuate the notion that disability is an individual problem to which professional intervention can provide the solution, and to ascribe responsibility for any perceived failure in therapy to the client rather than the practitioner.     

The ideology of neuroscience and intellectual disability: reconstituting the ‘disordered’ brain

During the last two or three decades, neuroscience has changed how we understand brain functioning. This shift, which is re-conceptualizing the relationship between the materiality of the brain and consciousness, is bound to have implications for intellectual disability, which is commonly seen as a condition of the brain. At present, examinations of intellectual disability that deploy techniques and concepts from neuroscience constitute a growing research field that has been welcomed in some quarters of the disability research community. The purpose of this article is to urge for caution as regards this development. I argue that the neuroscience of intellectual disability is embodying ideological propositions that need to be problematized. By theorizing the relationship between biology and politics and examining neuroscientific publications on intellectual disability, I argue that this strand of research is underpinned by a discursive division between normal and pathological, that it therefore constitutes a continuation of understanding intellectual disability as a ‘disorder’ and that any firm separation between the ‘nature’ of intellectual disability and processes of power is inherently problematic. To be able to critically approach the neuroscience of intellectual disability, it is vital that disability researchers problematize the relationship between biology and politics.     

Organ Transplantation as a Family Issue: Living Liver Donors in Japan

The global criticism of organ trafficking and transplant tourism requires many countries to pursue legal protection of living organ donors for organ transplantation. Japan is one of the criticized countries: more than 26 000 people have become living organ donors. This paper presents an exploration of living liver transplantation in Japan from legal, social and ethical perspectives. Since the first living liver transplantation in 1989, the cases have increased, with extremely high dependency in spite of a few deaths and cases of severe disability. Government and professional guidelines stipulate that living donors be “relatives” so that living organ transplantation can be privatized and regarded as a family issue, although it is strictly limited to altruistic cases in some countries. Based on results of the Living Liver Donor Survey conducted in 2004, Japanese liver donors have had various experiences. Most male donors were employed, felt some obligation and had concerns about financial effects or employment during decision‐making. In contrast, only a quarter of female donors were employed, felt guilty for their children, and did not have opportunities for regular health checkups after donation. Severe tensions and family break‐up were observed in adult‐to‐adult cases, although donors were satisfied with donation overall. The author suggests that we should rethink privatization of living organ donation and that independent advocates should support potential donors. Further research is necessary to explore the reasons why organ donation is privatized even in some forms of cadaver cases in Japan.     

Research on physical disability in sociological social psychology: The state of the field and future directions

We discuss the state of the research literature on physical disability in sociology, focusing particularly on social psychology. We first trace the history of treatments of disability in the field, noting a movement from a medical model that located disability in the individual to a social model that recognizes physical disability as an important social characteristic that is both produced by and has important consequences for social interactions. We then summarize contemporary research, identifying areas in which sociological research tends to be located, particularly in critical approaches, health‐related outcomes, and stigma. Finally, we discuss areas in which more research on physical disability would be fruitful. We believe that research on group processes, intersectionality, and identity would each especially benefit from greater attention to physical disability.     

Making disability conferences more actively inclusive

In this article I explore how generic disability conferences can become more inclusive of participants with intellectual disability. Increased inclusivity entails adapting to the support needs of people with intellectual disability, in line with the principles and practice of inclusive research. In the article I consider three specific areas where there can be more inclusion – access to information related to the conference, access to knowledge imparted during the conference, and financial issues. While many good practices have been developed in these areas, it is important to ensure that inclusion is catered for in a systematic and pro-active manner, so that people with intellectual disability have increasingly more meaningful and active roles within disability studies and disability research.     

‘Being friends means helping each other,making coffee for each other’: reciprocity in the friendships of people with intellectual disability

Friendship is an issue of concern for many people with intellectual disability. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to understand how people with intellectual disability experience friendship and what friendship means for them. A focus group was held with seven people with intellectual disability, who are members of a self-advocacy group. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the data. The people that the research participants identified as their friends were fellow self-advocates, family members, support workers and co-workers. They also identified behaviours and actions that foster friendship and those that undermine it. The analysis shows how the research participants identified as friendships those relationships which had an element of reciprocity, while linking a lack of reciprocity with the absence of friendship. It is very important for non-disabled people to understand the perspectives of people with intellectual disability they live and work with.     

The Social Model of Disability as a Threshold Concept: Troublesome Knowledge and Liminal Spaces in Social Work Education

This paper draws on the notion of threshold concepts to consider the way in which disability studies has the capacity to transform social work students' understandings of disability and therefore influence their practice. Most students enter social work programmes with the professed aim of ‘helping’ and so to be confronted by an approach (the social model of disability) and a body of research and theorising (disability studies) that challenges their taken-for-granted assumption that social work practice is ‘helpful’ is unsettling and can lead to resistance. The purpose of this article is to interrogate practice on a social work programme where a commitment to social model practice is explicated and embedded with the purpose of identifying what it is we want students to ‘get’, whether they find this troubling and how they can be effectively supported as they move through liminal spaces in social work education.     

Religious fund-raising: The theology of stewardship

In funding their national and international ministries, many mainline denominations report a shrinking financial base as local members and congregations change from the traditional unified budget approach to a designated or second pocket giving approach. This article traces the history of this development, relates it to biblical concepts of stewardship, discusses its implications for both religious and secular endeavors, and raises questions that require additional research.     

The participatory research approach in non‐Western countries: practical experiences from Central Asia and Zambia

This paper focuses on the application of the participatory research approach in non‐Western contexts. The aim is to provide critical insights into the participatory research discourse through an examination of its theory and practice based on our own experiences of using this approach in our doctoral research in five Central Asian countries and Zambia. Firstly, we summarise the published literature on the approach in both disability and development studies which are our academic disciplines. Secondly, we critically analyse some of the challenges we came across in applying participatory research in our doctoral studies in practice. By this we wish to contribute to making this approach more viable and to increase research participation by disabled persons in non‐Western contexts. Finally, based on our own experiences we give some suggestions for the use of the participatory research approach in non‐Western contexts.     

What a Difference a Decade Makes: Reflections on doing ‘emancipatory’ disability research

This paper provides a broad-based overview of the development of emancipa tory disability research in the UK since its emergence in 1992. Drawing on personal experience in the field, the author responds to several important considerations that need to be addressed before considering adopting this controversial perspective. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first part provides a concise introduction to the thinking that underpins the concept of emancipatory disability research. The second section discusses key elements of this approach including the problem of accountability, the social model of disability, choice of methods and, empowerment, dissemination and outcomes. The paper concludes by suggesting that whilst there has been considerable progress over the last decade the future of emancipatory disability research remains precarious.     

Public Support for Rehabilitation Programs: The Analysis of U.S. Disability Policy

Although political scientists have displayed relatively little interest in research on disability thus far, a brief review of major issues in rehabilitation in the United States indicates the contribution that policy analysts can make to the study of this subject. This opportunity is enhanced by a recent shift in the definition of disability from a medical orientation, which emphasizes functional impairments, and from an economic approach, which stresses vocational limitations, to a socio-political perspective, which regards disability as the product of interactions between individuals and the environment. The latter definition has become the foundation for a new 'minority-group' model of disability that is challenging the traditional 'functional-limitations' paradigm and that might profitably be utilized in future research.     

Role of Canadian user-led disability organizations in the non-profit sector

User-led disability organizations have emerged as an important force in the non-profit sector. While much is known about the traditional disability organizations that began to proliferate in the 1950s (e.g. National Institute for the Blind), relatively less is known about the user-led organizations that emerged in the 1970s. Using a collective case study approach, phase 1 was a policy review and key informant interviews with members of user-led and traditional organizations and government. Phase 2 surveyed affiliates of user-led organizations. Phase 3 integrated the findings from phases 1 and 2. Major themes were that user-led organizations: reflected a new paradigm and gave voice to people with disabilities; had a unique role in systemic advocacy and shaping policy; that leadership is critical but in need of rejuvenation; had links with other organizations which provide a collective voice, solidarity and hope; had diverse strategies for local resource mobilization; had financial support from government which was both constrained and mobilized.     

The making of Jamaica’s ‘National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2000’: macro,meso and micro factors

This paper summarises the findings of my doctoral thesis on the development of Jamaica’s first rights‐based disability policy: The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2000. The research had two main aims. First through conducting a retrospective case study, was to construct a history of the national policy’s development, which was made possible by a series of events. Second, was to explore through using Easton’s thesis, that policy is developed within an extra‐ and intra‐ societal environment in order to investigate how macro, meso and micro factors have influenced the policy‐making process. The thesis synthesises Easton’s systems approach to policy‐making with Lasswell’s classic stagist approach as a tool for discussing the policy‐making process in Jamaica. I argue that a combination of macro, meso and micro factors created an ‘opportunity’ for the national policy’s development, which represents a paradigm shift in Jamaican disability policy.     

Radicalising ‘disability’ in conflict and post-conflict situations

In this article, a radical social model of disability lens is taken to illustrate what counts as ‘disability’ within a neoliberal mindset. The South African and disabled activist Vic Finkelstein describes both an ‘outside-in approach’ that looks at the material conditions of how ‘disability’ is constructed and an ‘idealist’ ‘inside-out’ approach, or how people describe experiences of inequality and disablement. The ‘outside-in’ approach is where the focus of a social model of disability should be in terms of trying to understand how global capitalism or neoliberalism is (dis)ablest and creating impairment. The ‘inside-out’ approach is ‘idealist’ and where the other ‘components’ of the model such as ‘rights’ are located. This article begins with an overview of the relationship between disability and conflict. The article then moves to an inside-out framework to examine how disability is still viewed and created through a medical humanitarianism. Using an outside-in framework, I illustrate how states become disabled through neoliberalism. Lastly, I discuss how ensuring greater participation and rethinking neoliberalism in terms of sustainability may provide us with a way forward in a humanitarian setting and rethinking of disability.     

Public policy implications of elderly interstate migration to Oregon, 1985-1990

Several Oregon counties received a noticeable influx of elderly migrants from other states during the 1980s. Oregon policy regarding taxes, land use, and long-term care is examined for possible influence on migration. Models of elderly migration are examined for insight into how public policy influences migration, and previous research regarding the effects of elderly migration on public policy is reviewed. Data regarding disability and financial vulnerability among elderly by migration status are analyzed for possible influence upon public policy. Change in the population aged 65 and older mirrored state and national patterns for 1980 to 1990 and 1990 to 1999. Interstate elderly arriving in attractive counties reported a low prevalence of disability and financial vulnerability, indicating a low risk of demanding public assistance. Interstate elderly arriving in population centers reported a relatively high prevalence of disability but a low prevalence of financial vulnerability. This may suggest that Oregon's long-term care policy influenced elderly migration.     

Personal and Political: A Feminist Perspective on Researching Physical Disability

Feminist theory and methodology have much to offer in understanding how disability research has been experienced as alienated research by disabled people. However, feminist research has failed to apply its principles to disability and disabled women's subjective reality has found no place in mainstream feminist work. The paper identifies the challenges for feminism in addressing the interests and reality of disabled women, asserting that it is not helpful to focus on 'double disadvantage'. Disability research itself has much to learn from feminist methodology, in particular the principle of making the personal political. The role of non-disabled researchers as allies of disabled people is discussed, and the importance of research which turns the spotlight on the way in which non-disabled society oppresses disabled people. Finally, it is asserted that disability research and politics are of general relevance because the experience of disability is an integral part of a society characterised by fundamental inequalities and ideologies which divide people against each other.     

Contesting disabling conditions of life in the Global South: disability activists’ and service providers’ experiences in Guyana

This article addresses an important gap in our understanding of issues of impairment and disability, namely challenges facing disabled activists and service providers in the majority world context of the developing nation of Guyana. The article argues that developing a southern standpoint on impairment, disability, disability activism and service provision requires a reframing of disability issues as matters of distributive justice and not only human rights. Challenges facing disability activists and service providers in Guyana included trying to combat internalized ableism, financial and cultural barriers to political engagement and visibility, tensions in claiming or rejecting disabled identities and difficulties in accessing foreign aid funding for disability initiatives. The article concludes by stressing the importance of rethinking how we do disability studies so that it allows critical analysis of the dynamics of a global capitalist corporeal class order in the context of the majority world.     

“Some of My Children Are Worth More Than Others”: Perceptions of Nonresidential Fathers with Second Families as to the Fairness of the Australian Child Support Agency's Handling of First Family Child Support Financial Arrangements

One in three Australian marriages end in divorce, and over half of such divorces involve children. Research indicates that men tend to repartner within 1 to 2 years of a divorce and women within 3 to 5 years. A significant issue for repartnered men is the provision of financial support for children from both their first and second families. Although only 6% of all Australian first family children spend near/equal time (shared care) after divorce with both parents, fathers in Australia are mandated under child support legislation to provide financial support for their first family children, whether they reside with them or not. However, it is argued by this study's nonresidential fathers that the Child Support Agency, when considering the level of financial support for first family children, tends to overlook the needs of second family children, thus creating an advantaged and disadvantaged set of siblings. This finding is reviewed through a distributive justice theory lens. Finally, some future directions for research aimed at exploring the impact of Child Support Legislation on second families are suggested.