Patterns of disability and norms of participation through the life course: empirical support for a social model of disability

An attempt has been made in this article to empirically demonstrate the social derivation of disability using quantitative data, framed around the medical model. It would seem that people who are not convinced of the social derivation of disability, are likely to be influenced by findings made in such data. The term 'social derivation' is used to encompass both social construction and creation. The approach taken was to focus on one aspect of the social derivation of disability—investigating how the patterns of 'disabling conditions' vary over the course of life, specifically the schooling, working and retirement age. The observed patterns are not consistent with a medical model of disability that ignores social factors. Instead, the patterns are linked to social forces, both attitudinal and material. Socially-determined norms of participation, which vary between the life phases, seem to be a key determinant of the observed patterns of disability.