Disability Studies from an International Perspective

1
Disability Studies from an International
Perspective

• Aldred H. Neufeldt
• Community Rehabilitation
• Disability Studies Program,
• University of Calgary
• Keynote Presentation
• Meeting of the Council on Rehabilitation
  Educations (CORE)
• Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE)
• The University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, 3
  June 2005

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Purpose

• To look at the notion of disability studies
  from a global level
• Think about how different contexts influence
  understandings of services for persons with
  disabilities and role of personnel, including
  the
• Historical
• Cultural
• Structural
• Functional
• Think about implications for our business as
  educators

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Disability Studies as an Area of Enquiry

• The notion of Disability Studies emerged as a
  conceptual challenge to traditional ideas of
  rehabilitation including educational programs
• Arose in a particular place at a particular time
• in the USA/Canada in the aftermath of civil
  rights campaigns - late 1970s/early 1980s
• prompted by disability self-advocacy movement
  (independent living movement)
• as a challenge to professional ideologies and
  models dominating the field
• Note SDS founded (1982) as the Section for the
  study of Chronic Illness, Impairment, and
  Disability renamed, SDS in 1986 - linked to
  Western Social Science Assoc. through Chronic
  Disease and Disability Section

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While Disability Studies may be thought of as
a relatively new field of enquiry, the
Systematic Study of Disability has a long and
important History

• BUT, it is worthwhile remembering that

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Historical Reasons for Systematic Interest in
Impairment and Disability

• Survival
• Life of the ancients was nasty, brutish and
  short (Hobbes).
• Continued until post-WW II
• Social
• Inclusion into/contribution to community life (OT
  writings, 12th Century Village of Gheel)
• Intrinsic interest (writings of Herodotus and
  others)
• Knowledge pursuit
• Function of the senses (Alcmaeon of Croton - 5th
  c. BCE)
• Physiology of the body (Roman Era - set
  fractures, surgery, etc.)
• Interventions (18th C - schools 19th c. -
  Braille, Itard, Seguin, others)
• Professional
• Late 19th/20th Century
• Advocacy
• Late 20th C

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Systematic Study of Disability
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Recent History of Service distribution Canada
post-WWII
 
Community  Presence High
Schools
Churches
Other
 
Hospitals
Residential Institutions
Low High Community Participation
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Service distribution Canada today
 
Community  Presence High
Local Service Agencies
 
Local/Regional Health Human Service
Centres/Organizations
Residential Institutions
Low High Community Participation
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Service distribution Russia - today
 
Community  Presence High
Schools
Dispensaries
Other
 
Hospitals Specialized Centres
Residential Institutions
Low High Community Participation
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Service distribution Germany, France, Japan
today
 
Community  Presence High
Service Agencies
 
Physical Rehab, Voc Rehab, Sheltered Industries,
Hospitals
Residential Institutions
Low High Community Participation
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Culture Makes a Difference

• Example
• Tri-lateral Collaboration in development of CBR
  Services in Republic of Srbska, BiH
• Actors - RS/BiH, Canada, Japan
• Roles Host, funder of training, funder of
  reconstruction and hardware
• Challenge the little things
• who can decide that minutes accurately reflect a
  meeting centralized vs. decentralized
  responsiblity
• Cultural differences in understanding what
  constitutes an appropriate approach to monitoring
  or evaluation

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Disability Studies a part of the Rights Talk
Revolution

• Growth in rights talk since 1950s
• - UN Charter of Human Rights, civil rights,
  child, womens, disability, etc.
• 2. At least 4 categories confused
• Moral, Legal, Civil, Human
• 3. Rights as a mantra gains and new
  challenges for disability sector
• s - democracies more inclusive,
  - accommodating of different groups
  formerly marginalized,
• - greater equality
• - s - changed our politics
• - my rights vs. your rights
• - individualism

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Different Rights Cultures

• Britain
• Class-based, with centrist and individualist
  features
• France
• Strongly centralist
• USA
• Profoundly individualistic
• Canada
• Both strong belief in the common good, but also
  import of individual and difference
• Other OECD Countries
• mixture of understandings, legislation

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Different contexts lead to different views of
whats right

• Contexts involve a complex mixture of factors
  including the
• Historical
• Cultural
• Structural
• Functional
• Different contextual/ideological assumptions
  sometimes lead to surprisingly similar
  conclusions (e.g. materialist/Marxist views of
  disability leaders in England lead to similar to
  similar conclusion as civil rights power analysis
  of American advocates strange bed fellows in
  the global disability movement)

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Distribution of governance responsibilityInfluenc
es the Field

• Central (Nation-level)
• Sweden, Russia (Assumption that the State should
  know)
• France, Germany
• Britain
• USA (Assumption the individual knows what is
  right, sue the State when individuals rights
  seem abridged)
• Provincial/State
• Canada (Mix of trust the State, cynicism)
• Belgium, Switzerland
• As do philosophical approaches to welfare state
  commitments

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Approaches to welfare state policies

• Definition - the state assumes responsibility for
  ensuring all its citizens have at least a minimum
  income through various economic, employment
  creation and income redistribution systems
• Characteristic of OECD countries - but not of
  others
• Conservative/Corporatist Approaches
• Sweden - epitome of social democratic state
  Strong belief that the state knows best - most
  services delivered by government advocacy orgs
  heavily subsidized by government
• Germany France - also high commitment to state
  knows best philosophybut, significant portion
  of services provided by NGOs (virtually 100
  subsidy, depending on nature of service) - a
  conservative or corporatist approach designed
  to support and accentuate the individuals
  appropriate station in life.

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Approaches to welfare state policies (contd)

• Liberal Ideology
• Canada, Australia, Britain, US - liberal
  countries
• they are more anti-state and laissez-faire, with
  emphasis on individual responsibility
• heavier emphasis than the others on having
  recipients of state support become earners of
  their own income independent of government.
• But, significant differences between then
• Canadas group rights emphasis - universal
  health, employt insurance, etc. - compared to US
  individual responsibility
• Prescriptive vs. Permissive legislation (forced
  compliance of US vs. suasive approaches in
  Canada)

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Social institutions affecting disability services

• Inter-relationships

Ecclesia
Invisible forces that shape assumptions and
beliefs
State
Community
Older Services
Emerging services
Household
Service user
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Examples of Functional Decisions that Make a
Difference

• Career education does it start in elementary
  school as in much of Europe, or some time after
  secondary education?
• Funding of services the implications of
  spiraling health care costs?
• The roles of graduates of disability studies and
  community practice programs
• vs. those of medical rehabilitation, social work
  and other professionals?
• (Russian saying hold your friends close, and
  your enemies even closer)
• Role of end-users in decision-making?

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In thinking about Education, its important to
think of the relationship to

• Disability Studies research networks -
  possibility of linking research virtually
  GLADNET as example of Global Network
• Career ladders that link college diploma to
  Bachelor degree to Graduate degrees
• Inter-disciplinary specializations within regular
  degrees cross-training with Social Work or
  Nursing or Medicine
• The possibility of virtual linkages
  Collaboration between Universities to address
  specialization needs
• The intersection of Knowledge-based Evidence with
  Values-based evidence contextualized in our
  Cultures

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Continually Interacting Sources of Evidence in
Shaping our Futures the V Heuristic

• Values Knowledge
• Beliefs Personal
• Experience
• Religious truths Organized
• Philosophies Observations
• Principles Theory generating
• Codes (enquiry) methods
• Laws Theory testing
• Regulations (inferential)
  methods

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Our business in this meeting is of interest
elsewhere

• European Bachelors degree programs meeting in
  Norway (Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Norway)
• Alberta 2010 Task Force need for
  credentialing recognition
• Others