Social model of disability

The social model of disability and the social view of disability is a response to the prevailing medical model of disability. In the social model of disability, the Company is considered as the most important factor. There are systemic barriers identified, as well as negative attitudes and exclusion.

The origin of the approach can be traced back to the 1960s, the specific term originated in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

History

The concept behind the model is due to the Bürgerrechts-/Menschenrechtsbewegungen 1960s. In 1975, the British organization Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation UPIAS claimed (Association of physically impaired against segregation): " In our view, it is society that hinders the physically impaired people. Disability, imposition, in addition to our impairments by the way we are isolated from full participation in society and unnecessarily excluded. "

In 1983, the disabled social scientist Michael Oliver coined the term " social model of disability " in relation to this ideological development. Oliver focuses on the idea of an individual model (of which the medical part was ) towards a social model, derived from the original distinction between impairment and disability through the UPIAS.

The "social model " has been expanded and further developed by academics and activists in the UK, the U.S. and other countries, and expanded to include all disabled people, including those who have learning difficulties / learning disabilities / or mentally handicapped or people with emotional, psychological or behavioral disorders.

Oliver had not intended to establish the " social model of disability " as an all encompassing theory of disability, rather than a starting point for the conversion of the Company's perspective on disability.

Components and use

An important aspect of the social model concerns equality. The fight for equality is often compared with the struggles of other socially marginalized groups. Equal rights means to give strength, the ability to make decisions and the ability to live life to the fullest. A, commonly used by disability activists as well as other social activists expression is Nothing about us without us ( nothing about us without us).

The social model of disability focuses on the necessary changes in society. These could be:

• Settings, for example, a positive attitude towards certain mental characteristics or behaviors, or not underestimate the potential of quality of life for those with disabilities,
• Social support, for example, help in overcoming barriers to the use of resources, aids or positive discrimination, for example, providing a buddy to explain to an employee with autism the work culture
• Information, for example with suitable formats (eg Braille ) or levels (eg simplicity of language ) or Explanation of issues that are perhaps self-evident to others,
• Physical structures, such as buildings with sloped access and elevators or Flexible work hours for people with circadianem rhythm or sleep disturbances or eg for people who have anxiety / panic attacks during rush hour.

The social model of disability implies that attempts to change people, to "fix" or "cure", especially against the will of the patient, can be discriminatory and prejudiced. This attitude, which comes from a medical point of view and a subjective value system can be permanently detrimental to self-esteem and social inclusion ( eg, being told they are not as good or as valuable as others). Some communities have actively "treatments" resisted to defend their unique culture, for example, or a set of skills. In the deaf community, sign language is appreciated, even if most people do not know and some parents against cochlear implants for deaf children who can not agree to fight back.

People in whom an autism spectrum disorder has been diagnosed may be against the efforts to change them, so they are like others. They argue for the acceptance of neuronal diversity and for the adjustment of different needs and goals. Some people with a mental disorder argue that they are simply different and not necessarily correspond to a standard. The biopsychosocial model of illness / disability is a holistic attempt by practitioners to their address.

The social model implies that practices such as eugenics are grounded in social values ​​and bias. " More than 200,000 people with disabilities were the first victims of the Holocaust. "

1986 sets an article: " It is not to be dismissed out of hand that we are all in the great metaphysical category are disabled. The effect of this is a depersonalization, the extensive loss of our individuality and denial of our right to be seen as human beings with our own uniqueness and not as anonymous constituents of a category or group. This generalizing words, the disabled ',' spina bifida ',' tetraplegia ',' muscular ' - are nothing more than terminological rubbish bins into which everything important is thrown on us as human beings. "

The social model of disability is based on a distinction between the concepts of impairment and disability. Interference is used to refer to the actual attributes (or the lack of attributes ) to indicate the abnormality to a person, except with respect to the limbs, organs, or mechanisms, including psychological. Disability refers to the limitations caused by the company, if there is no alignment with the needs of people with disabilities.

The social model also relates to the economy. It states that people can be hampered by the lack of funds to meet their needs. It covers issues such as the underestimation of the potential of people to contribute to generating of material values ​​for society if people are granted the same rights and are equally suitable facilities and opportunities as the others. In the fall of 2001, the UK Office for National Statistics has found that about a fifth of the population was disabled of working age - 7.1 million people with disabilities - contrast, 29.8 million people in employment. This analysis also gave an insight into some of the reasons why disabled people were not prepared to enter the labor market, such as the reduction of disability benefits at the start of employment, so that it does not pay to take up employment. A three-prong approach has been proposed:

• " Incentives through the tax and benefit system, for example through the tax-free allowance for the disabled;
• People back to work, for example through the New Deal for Disabled People; and the
• Combat discrimination in the workplace on the anti -discrimination policy. Underlying laws of this are the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA ) 1995 and the Disability Rights Commission. "

Law and Politics

In the UK, the Disability Discrimination Act defines disability from a medical perspective - People with disabilities are as people with certain conditions or certain limitations defined in terms of their ability to perform " normal everyday activities." But the requirements for employers and service providers regarding " reasonable adjustments " to their processes and procedures, or physical aspects of the conditions follow the social model. The adjustments of the employers and service providers disabling barriers are broken down according to the social model of disability and thus effectively eliminated.

Since 2006, with the amendment of the Act local authorities and others are obliged to actively promote disability equality. The reaction was conducted by the Disability Equality Duty in December 2006.

2010, the Disability Discrimination Act (1995 ) fused together with other relevant anti-discrimination legislation in the Equality Act 2010. This law extends from discrimination to indirect discrimination. For example, now is also illegal if a carer of a person with a disability is discriminated against. As of October 2010, after the entry into force of the Act, it is unlawful for employers to make during the job interview questions to illness or disability, unless there is a need to make reasonable adjustments in preparation for the interview. After a job offer, the employer may then legitimately ask such questions. The Equality Act was also extended to the protection of transgender people.

In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( ADA), revised in 2008, legally from January 2009 a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It provides similar protection against discrimination of Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which stipulates that discrimination is illegal on grounds of race, religion, gender, national origin and other characteristics. Some specific conditions are excluded, such as alcoholism and transsexuality.

In Australia, the federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 gives a general medical definition, which includes all forms of medically diagnosable diseases or disorders, real or imputed, temporary or permanent, past or present. Australian law is loosely based on the U.S. ADA.

2007 defined by the European Court in the process Chacon Navas v Eurest Colectividades SA disability closely, according to a medical definition, excludes the temporary illness, taking into account the Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (Directive 2000/78 / EC). The policy is not created for each definition of disability, regardless of upstream policy discourse on the approval of the social model of disability in the EU documents. This allowed the Court to apply a narrow medical definition.