Do disabled people need a stronger social model: a social model of human rights?

an article by Maria Berghs (De Montfort University, Leicester, UK), Karl Atkin (University of York, UK) and Chris Hatton and Carol Thomas (Furness College, Lancaster University, UK) published in Disability & Society Volume 34 Issue 7-8 (2019)

Abstract

We introduce the social model of disability by reflecting on its origins and legacy, with particular reference to the work of the Union of the Physically Impaired against Segregation.

We argue that there has been a gradual rolling back of the rights and entitlements associated with the social model of disability. Yet no alternative for the social model has been proposed in response to such threats to disabled people’s human rights.

Disabled people need a stronger social model that acts as a means to a society which enables and ensures their rights; the right to live a dignified life, as well as to live in an environment that enables people to flourish with disability.

Full text (PDF 7pp)

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Predicting policy performance: Can the Work and Health Programme work for chronically ill or disabled people?

an article by Stef Benstead (Research Consultant, England) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 39 Issue 4 (November 2019)

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Abstract

Many developed countries consider that disability benefit receipt is too high and more disabled people should be in paid work.

Employment programmes designed to achieve this have tended towards less financial support and more requirement to engage in activity. But emphasis on social inclusion through paid work coupled with inadequate benefits and mandated activity can cause distress and worsened health.

It is therefore vital that politicians understand the likely impact of employment programmes before introducing them.

In this article, a new framework based on five ‘Ds’ (diagnosis, destination, development, design and delivery) is used to analyse the UK’s Work and Health Programme.

It is shown that the programme is likely to fail: it includes measures that do not work, and may cause harm, whilst ignoring measures that are known to work. Based on this, it is recommended that this programme be scrapped and the government start listening to disabled people.

In lieu of being able to bring you a link to the full text I have marked this article to read in the British Library next week when I hope to discover which of the measures in the Programme are likely to bring harm and which are ignored even though they work!

As an ex-employee of what is the DWP I think I know the answers from my days as an employment adviser who provided employment advice and only ever "sanctioned" one person who was blatantly working and signing.

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Combatting disability discrimination: A comparison of France and Great Britain

an article by Susan Corby and Laura William (University of Greenwich, UK) and Sarah Richard (Ecole de Management, Université de Strasbourg, France) published in European Journal of Industrial Relations Volume 25 Issue 1 (March 2019)

Abstract

This article examines disabled people’s employment in Great Britain and France.

In both countries, they are far less likely to be employed than non-disabled people, but the gap is wider in Britain than in France.

Possible explanations for the wider gap in Britain include weak enforcement mechanisms, judicial resistance and the lack of an institutional role for trade unions, resulting in an implementation gap; while the narrower gap in France may reflect the more proactive legislation, including its quota-levy scheme.

We conclude that these explanations are not mutually exclusive, and we suggest that Britain might consider adopting some French provisions, thus tempering its voluntarist approach.

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Wage subsidies targeted to jobseekers with disabilities: subsequent employment and disability retirement

an article by Nikolay Angelov (Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU), Uppsala, Sweden;  Uppsala University, Sweden)  and Marcus Eliason (Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU), Uppsala, Sweden) published in IZA Journal of Labor Policy Volume 7 Article 12 (2018)

Abstract

In many countries, a non-negligible percentage of the working-age population has impairments that also entail reduced work capacity, and disability retirement is increasing. Despite this, studies on the effects of policies aimed at enhancing the labour market inclusion among people with disabilities, such as targeted wage subsidies, are surprisingly few.

In an attempt to fill this gap, we have studied how wage subsidies affect future labour market outcomes for jobseekers with disabilities, in terms of employment and disability retirement.

By using inverse probability weighting applied to rich Swedish register data, we contrast participants in the wage subsidy program to observably similar non-participants during a 19-year period.

We find that participation was associated with both positive and negative labour market outcomes. On the negative side, participants were less likely to have unsubsidised employment. On the positive side, leaving the labour market through the disability insurance program was somewhat less common among participants. Moreover, using a broader employment measure including subsidised jobs, the participants were found to be employed to a larger extent, which could be interpreted either as locking-in effects or as fostering labour market inclusion.

JEL Classification: C21, J14, J23

Full text (PDF 37pp)

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Socially disabled: the fight disabled people face against loneliness and stress

an article by Jason Olsen (Ulster University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK) published in Disability & Society Volume 33 Issue 7 (2018)

Abstract

In 2018, the United Kingdom appointed its first Minister for Loneliness.

This article discusses some of the barriers which may contribute to why disabled people were found to be one of the largest groups affected by loneliness. Utilizing ethnographic examples supported by facts, the article demonstrates how even when seeking to fight loneliness, and to reduce the stressors of everyday life, disabled people are often at a disadvantage, or excluded.

The article raises questions concerning self-social exclusion and discusses recommended avenues for further research.

Full text (PDF 6pp)

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Identity, mental health and work: How employees with mental health conditions recount stigma and the pejorative discourse of mental illness

an article by Hadar Elraz (Cardiff University, UK) published in Human Relations Volume 71 Issue 5 (May 2018)

Abstract

This article asks how identity is constructed for individuals with mental health conditions (MHCs) in the workplace. It takes especial regard to how MHCs are discursively situated, constructed and reconstructed in the workplace.

Employees with MHCs face a difficult situation: not only do they need to deal with the stigma and discrimination commonly associated with MHCs, but they must also manage their health condition whilst adhering to organizational demands to demonstrate performance and commitment to work.

Discourse analysis derived from 32 interviews with individuals with MHCs delineates how these individuals feel both stigmatized and empowered by their MHCs.

The findings address three discursive strands:

1. a pejorative construction of mental illness in employment and society;
2. contesting mental illness at work by embracing mental health management skills; and
3. recounting mental illness through public disclosure and change.

This article enhances understanding of how the construction of positive identity in the face of negative attributions associated with MHCs contributes to literature on identity, organizations and stigma as well as raising implications for policy and practice.

Full text (PDF 20pp)

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Rehabilitation as a Disability Equality Issue: A Conceptual Shift for Disability Studies?

an article by Tom Shakespeare, Harriet Cooper and Fiona Poland (University of East Anglia, UK) and Dikmen Bezmez (Koç University, Turkey) published in Social Inclusion Volume 6 Number 1 (2018)

Abstract

Rehabilitation is a controversial subject in disability studies, often discussed in terms of oppression, normalisation, and unwanted intrusion. While there may be good reasons for positioning rehabilitation in this way, this has also meant that, as a lived experience, it is under-researched and neglected in disabilities literature, as we show by surveying leading disability studies journals.

With some notable exceptions, rehabilitation research has remained the preserve of the rehabilitation sciences, and such studies have rarely included the voices of disabled people themselves, as we also demonstrate by surveying a cross-section of rehabilitation science literature.

Next, drawing on new research, we argue for reframing access to rehabilitation as a disability equality issue.

Through in-depth discussion of two case studies, we demonstrate that rehabilitation can be a tool for inclusion and for supporting an equal life.

Indeed, we contend that rehabilitation merits disability researchers’ sustained engagement, precisely to ensure that a ‘right-based rehabilitation’ policy and practice can be developed, which is not oppressive, but reflects the views and experiences of the disabled people who rehabilitation should serve.

Full text (PDF 12pp)

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Reasonable Accommodation as a Gateway to the Equal Enjoyment of Human Rights: From New York to Strasbourg

an article by Delia Ferri (Department of Law, Maynooth University, Ireland) Social Inclusion Volume 6 Number 1 (2018)

Abstract

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) explicitly embeds the concept of reasonable accommodation within the principle of non-discrimination. Article 2 of the CRPD unambiguously recognizes that reasonable accommodation is vital in enabling persons with disabilities to enjoy and exercise their rights on an equal basis with others.

This article argues that in the ten years since its entry into force, the CRPD has stimulated a process of cross-fertilization. In particular, it contends that the CRPD has played a crucial role in the advancement of disability equality, and in the recognition of reasonable accommodation as a gateway to the equal enjoyment of all human rights within the European human rights system.

By adopting a legal perspective and a traditional doctrinal approach, this article focuses on relevant European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law. It shows the gradual adoption by the ECtHR of the concept of reasonable accommodation as an essential element to remove specific barriers or disadvantages to which a particular disabled individual would otherwise be subject.

The primary emphasis of this short article is on the ECtHR case law and on the extent to which it has translated the CRPD and the work of the CRPD Committee into the European human rights system.

Full text (PDF 11pp)

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Equality of What? The Capability Approach and the Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities

an article by Andrea Broderick (Maastricht University, The Netherlands) published in Social Inclusion Volume 6 Number 1 (2018)

Abstract

The right to education is indispensable in unlocking other substantive human rights and in ensuring full and equal participation of persons with disabilities in mainstream society.

The cornerstone of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities seeks to ensure access to inclusive education for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others as well as the full development of human potential. Since the adoption of the Convention, there has been much theorising about inclusive education; however, there has been little focus on the meaning of equality in the context of the right to education for persons with disabilities.

The capability approach, developed by Amartya Sen and further refined by Martha Nussbaum, focuses on ensuring equality and developing human potential.

It is often viewed as a tool that can be used to overcome the limitations of traditional equality assessments in the educational sphere, which only measure resources and outcomes.

This article explores whether the capability approach can offer new insights into the vision of educational equality contained in the Convention and how that vision can be implemented at the national level.

Full text (PDF 11pp)

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Wonderful marble run made out of fidget spinners, and a parable about accessibility and abled people

a post by Cory Doctorow for the Boing Boing blog

Fidget spinners are wonderful.

Hear me out.

Accessibility advocates have always said that disability is a spectrum and the line that separates an abled person from a person with a disability is arbitrary. I am not legally visually impaired, but I can't read low-contrast text at all, and I use browser plugins designed for people who have formal visual impairments to read much of the web by increasing the contrast and size of the type on my screen.

In the same way, there are lots of "auditory learners" who don't have a formal diagnosis of a reading disability or ADHD, but who find audiobooks allow them to process text in a way that they never could before, overcoming struggles that they had assumed were just a fact of life – and the fact that there are now so many instructors and book-clubs who look for titles with readily available audio editions means that these people benefit, too.

Continue reading

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How effective are disability sensitization workshops?

an article by Mukta Kulkarni (Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bengaluru, India), K.V. Gopakumar (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, India) and Shivani Patel (Mallya Aditi International School, Bengaluru, India) published in Employee Relations Volume 40 Issue 1 (2018)

Abstract

Purpose
Organizations are increasingly investing in disability-specific sensitization workshops. Yet, there is limited understanding about their hoped outcomes, that is, increased knowledge about disability-related issues and behavioral changes with respect to those with a disability. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness and boundaries of disability-specific sensitization training in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach
This is an interview-based study where 33 employees from five industries across India were interviewed over the span of a year.

Findings
The findings suggest that sensitization workshops are successful with regard to awareness generation. Paradoxically, the same awareness also reinforced group boundaries through “othering.” Further, workshops resonated more so with individuals who already had some prior experience with disability, implying that voluntary sensitization is likely attracting those who have the least need of such sensitization. The findings also suggest that non-mandated interventions may not necessarily influence organizational level outcomes, especially if workshops are conducted in isolation from a broader organizational culture of inclusion.

Originality/value
The present study helps outline effects of sensitization training initiatives and enhances our understanding about how negative attitudes toward persons with a disability can be overcome. The study also indicates how such training initiatives may inadvertently lead to “othering.” Finally, this study offers suggestions to human resource managers for designing impactful disability sensitization workshops.

Only a small sample but the results are not encouraging. The training works with those who are predisposed to it and if done in isolation from overall company policy then makes little difference.
Maybe I am reading too much into an abstract but …

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Dementia, disability rights and disablism: understanding the social position of people living with dementia

an article by Carol Thomas and Christine Milligan (Lancaster University, UK) published in Disability & Society Volume 33 Issue 1 (2018 )

Abstract

This article considers the recent history and consequences of positioning people living with dementia in the realms of disability, disablism and disability rights. The geo-political focus is the United Kingdom and neighbouring resource-rich nations in the Global North.

The first section examines the growing trend of identifying ‘dementia’ with ‘disability’, a trend fuelled by the expansion of dementia-related activism and research.

The second section focuses on how researchers who have published in Disability & Society and other journals have applied the social model of disability to individuals living with dementia.

The third section discusses three conceptual challenges that lie ahead for those who choose to research and theorise the dementia/disability connection.

These challenges concern:

• theorising dementia as disability;
• understanding intersectionality in dementia contexts; and
• understanding ‘abuse’ in dementia contexts.

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The role of workplace accommodations in the employment of people with disabilities

an article by Priyanka Anand (George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA) and Purvi Sevak (Mathematica Policy Research, Princeton, USA) published in IZA Journal of Labor Policy Volume 6 Article 12 (2017)

Abstract

We explore the role of workplace accommodations in reducing employment barriers and improving the employment of people with disabilities. We do so using data from the 2015 Survey of Disability and Employment on people with disabilities who applied for vocational rehabilitation services in three states.

The results show that at least one third of nonworking people with disabilities reported employment barriers that could be addressed by workplace accommodations, such as lack of transportation and an inaccessible workplace. We also find that receiving certain types of workplace accommodations, such as help with transportation, flexible work schedules, or a personal care attendant, is positively correlated with being employed at the time of the survey.

Finally, people who are in poor health or have physical disabilities were more likely to perceive workplace inaccessibility as a barrier but less likely to have received accommodations in their current or most recent job. This suggests that people with these characteristics may be good candidates to target for greater access to workplace accommodations.

JEL Classification: I1, J2, J32

Full text (PDF 20pp)

Whilst I note that this article is based on data collected in the USA the conclusions will apply in most labour markets. H.

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Loneliness: the second cruel stigma Britain inflicts on disabled people

an article by Frances Ryan published in the Guardian


A wheelchair-user using a ramp. ‘It’s still often impossible for us to get in a building.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

The idea that we are different and don’t want to work, laugh in a pub, or go on a date is far too common. The result, for far too many, is stark isolation

Increasingly, I feel lucky to leave the house. That’s a strange feeling for someone to have, particularly someone in their early 30s. As a millennial, I know I should be concerned with my nonexistent pension or ever diminishing chance of buying a home – and I am, really. But as a disabled person, I’m aware that nowadays even basic parts of a normal life can’t be taken for granted: going to the office, meeting friends in the pub, even regularly seeing another human being.

New research from the disability charity Scope has found almost half of working-age disabled people are chronically lonely, saying they “always or often” feel lonely. Staggeringly, that works out at about 3 million lonely disabled people in Britain.

The Office for National Statistics has described Britain as “the loneliness capital of Europe” – finding that we’re less likely to have strong friendships or know our neighbours than inhabitants of any other country in the EU. Young people are said to be particularly affected.

Continue reading and be ashamed of our fellow human beings and, perhaps, take a long look at how we ourselves react to people who are less able than we are.

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Disability and Vulnerability: Challenging the Capacity/Incapacity Binary

an article by Beverley Clough (School of Law, University of Leeds, UK) published in Social Policy and Society Volume 16 Issue 3 (July 2017)

Abstract

This article engages with emerging debates in law and feminist philosophy around the concept of vulnerability. Central to this is the call to re-imagine and re-frame vulnerability as universal – as something which is experienced by all individuals, by virtue of their humanity and context as social beings.

The implications of this for laws and policies predicated on groups or categories as ‘being vulnerable’ will be explored in this article, using the concept of mental capacity as an example of how the boundary between capacity and incapacity can be contested through this lens.

The article will critically consider the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated literature, such as Court of Protection cases, the House of Lords Select Committee's post-legislative scrutiny and Serious Case Reviews, which demonstrate the growing concern about the inadequacy of the binary between capacity and incapacity. This in turn provokes a challenge to accepted wisdom in the context of disability more broadly, inviting us to think in particular about the responses to perceived vulnerability that are currently deemed appropriate.

Insights from the legal literature invite further exchanges with social policy theorists as to the concept of vulnerability and its challenges and implications for law and policy.

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The role of the appropriate adult in supporting vulnerable adults in custody: Comparing the perspectives of service users and service providers

an article by Tricia Jessiman and Ailsa Cameron (School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, UK) published in British Journal of Learning Disabilities Volume 45 Issue 4 (December 2017)

Accessible Summary

• When a vulnerable adult is in police custody, they should have someone with them to help them understand what is happening. This person is called an appropriate adult (AA).
• Previous research has shown that the role of the AA is not always well understood. This study compares the views of both professionals and vulnerable adults.
• Adults with learning disabilities and mental health problems said looking after them and helping them communicate were the most important things an AA should do.
• Like other studies have shown, not all adults who should be provided with an AA in custody have had one. This may be because no agency has a statutory duty to provide one.
• This study recommends that AA services should try and engage more effectively with vulnerable adults.

Abstract

Background
Police custody sergeants have a duty to secure an AA to safeguard the rights and welfare of vulnerable people detained or questioned by the police. This study focuses on the role of the AA in supporting vulnerable adults and seeks to examine what stakeholders would expect from an effective AA service.

Methods
This was a qualitative study of four AA services in England. Interviews were undertaken with 25 professionals, and two focus groups were held with service-user groups (13 participants).

Results
There is disparity between the expectations of professionals, and service users, on what comprises an effective service. Professionals tend to prioritise the availability and response time of AAs, while service users prioritise their personal attributes and demeanour.

Conclusions
Professionals involved in commissioning and management of AA services should monitor whether the rights of vulnerable adults in custody are protected and better engage vulnerable adults beyond service delivery.

Full text (PDF 7pp)

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Where have all the radicals gone?: How normative pressures can blunt the radical edge of a social enterprise

an article by Peter Francis Wheeler (Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK) published in Social Enterprise Journal Volume 13 Issue 2

Abstract

Purpose
This paper aims to track the operations of a radical social enterprise, “New Horizon”, which attempted to provide a different approach to improve the independent living and employment opportunities for disabled people. The longitudinal study covers a period from the new labour project in the late 1990s to current austerity measures.

Design/methodology/approach
The project applied an emancipatory disability research agenda which places both the social and material relations of knowledge in the hands of the disabled participants.

Findings
Under the neo-liberal marketisation of public services, the radical nature of the organisation needed to be tempered, as different stakeholder groupings required different and not always complementary approaches to be undertaken to maintain legitimacy. Neo-institutional pressures tended to drive the organisation towards conformity with similar more mainstream rivals meaning the radical approach which assisted the formation of the organisation became less observable.

Social/implications
This research provides a unique insight into the systemic challenges faced by a social enterprise attempting to improve the independent living/employment prospects of disabled people. The longitudinal nature of the study illustrates how similar radical social enterprises, policymakers and researchers can understand how normative forces act in opposition to radical agendas.

Originality/value
This longitudinal study of a radical disability organisation which is undertaken through an emancipatory disability research agenda provides a unique insight into a marginalised and largely disenfranchised group in society. The paper provides a voice for the disabled stakeholders of New Horizon and hence differs from the majority of social research in that interpretations and analyses arise from the knowing subjects of research as opposed to the more traditional non-disabled academic research community.

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How to allocate scare resources without discriminating against people with disabilities

an article by Tyler M. John, Joseph Millum and David Wasserman (Clinical Center Department of Bioethics, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) published in Economics & Philosophy Volume 33 Issue 2 (July 2017)

Abstract

One widely used method for allocating health care resources involves the use of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) to rank treatments in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained. CEA has been criticized for discriminating against people with disabilities by valuing their lives less than those of non-disabled people. Avoiding discrimination seems to lead to the 'QALY trap': we cannot value saving lives equally and still value raising quality of life. This paper reviews existing responses to the QALY trap and argues that all are problematic. Instead, we argue that adopting a moderate form of prioritarianism avoids the QALY trap and disability discrimination.

Full text (PDF) please note copyright conditions

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Access to quality education for students with disabilities

an article by Luke Macaulay, Joanne Deppeler and Joseph Agbenyega (Monash University, Faculty of Education) published in Journal of Social Inclusion Volume 7 Issue 2 (2016)

Abstract

Conceptualising educational equity and academic achievement is a key task for inclusive education and the politics of inclusion. Recent Australian Government reports (2013-2016) on educational access and inclusion report low levels of educational access and attainment for students with disability.

This paper considers the place that Pierre Bourdieu’s critical social theory has in helping us to conceptualise access, equity, and inclusion, and argue that the concepts of habitus, capital, and field (Bourdieu, 1977) have a key role to play in this process. Utilising these concepts to draw closely on three recent Australian Government reports (2013-2016) on educational equity and inclusion, our analysis has identified three consistent themes across these reports which disadvantage students with disability.

These include cultural issues, economic capital, and the utility of education. These themes compound and culminate to highlight an issue of a lack of continuity across the field of education within Australia.

As a consequence, the value of capital and operation of habitus function inconsistently across the field, rendering the process of the acquisition of success as being inequitable. Consideration is given to the need for a careful rethinking of how the inclusive education concept, connected to politics, can be transformed to eradicate inequities and inconsistencies to the benefit of all.

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Perceptions of discrimination and distributive injustice among people with physical disabilities: In jobs, compensation and career development

an article by Mercedes Villanueva-Flores (Cadiz University, Spain) and Ramon Valle and Mar Bornay-Barrachina (Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain) published in Personnel Review Volume 46 Issue 3 (2017)

Abstract

Purpose
This study examines whether disabled workers perceive negative workplace experiences in terms of discrimination. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of perceived distributive injustice at work, regarding three dimensions – job assignment, compensation and career development opportunities – on perceived discrimination and explore the mediation role of perceived discrimination in the relationship between perceived distributive injustice and the job dissatisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach
Research hypotheses are tested with a questionnaire administered to 107 disabled employees working in public and private Spanish organisations.

Findings
The results indicate that physically disabled people perceive distributive injustice and discrimination at work regarding job assignment, compensation and career development opportunities in Andalusian organisations, and this perception of discrimination leads to feel dissatisfaction. This study confirms the triple dimensionality of two of the variables studied: perceived distributive injustice at work and perceived discrimination at work.

Originality/value
Few studies have focussed on disability-related issues from a human resource management viewpoint. This study focusses on job assignments, compensation and career development and shows that the perception of discrimination mediates the relation between the perception of distributive injustice at work, and job dissatisfaction. That is, perceived distributive injustice in the organisation leads physically disabled employees to compare their situation with that of their non-disabled peers and thus to perceive discrimination regarding job assignment, compensation and career development opportunities. As a result, they become dissatisfied with their jobs. The results obtained allow us to extend the organisational justice framework, achieving a more thorough understanding of the perception of both injustice and discrimination.

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