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131 SIx Equality, identity and disability introduction Consistent with social work codes of ethics and mainstream social policy objectives, the disability rights movement (DRM) promotes the universal values of equal rights and individual autonomy, drawing heavily on Kantian philosophy. However, I argue here that an anti-universalised Nietzschean perspective is also promoted via specific interpretations of the social model of disability, explored in Chapter Five, that challenge the political orthodoxy of rights-based social movements and the aspirations of
107 FIVE Egalitarianism, disability and monistic ideals introduction In this chapter, I argue that the medical and social models of disability, while establishing clearly located poles for understanding competing interpretations of disablement, allow for a range of interpretations between these two extremes. In this light, the chapter outlines these various interpretations, to help clarify the different types of claim made by the disability rights movement (DRM) as related to the equality and diversity debate explored in previous chapters. Briefly put, the
, disability and infirmity form rather more contingent sources of social division in part because of the temporal flux within which they emerge. There is a distinction, for example, between the predictable status of becoming aged and the less predictable status of becoming disabled, ill or infirm. Most people see bodily change as constituting the ‘authentic’ basis of age and ageing; reminders of the inevitable temporality that is attached to identity, location and status. Those changes that are evidenced by the ageing body, which do not reflect illness or impairment, best
It’s because of my physical appearance and because I’m Asian that I am bullied. Sometimes people make fun of me and ruin my belongings but I don’t tell my parents. ( Ditch the Label, 2018 : 15) Introduction This chapter turns to those children at increased risk of poverty either through their belonging to a non-white ethnic minority or through their own or a family member’s disability. As well as having an increased risk of living in poverty, these are circumstances that, when combined with poverty, have an interactive effect. Ethnicity While the
ELEVEN Disability: prospects for social inclusion Carol Thomas Introduction Disability was a topic of interest to Peter Townsend from the earliest days in his academic and policy-oriented career. From the 1960s onwards he recognised that disability was always present somewhere in the mix that sculpted poverty and socioeconomic disadvantage in communities – especially among old people and in families with disabled children. His long-standing interest in social conditions, social relationships and the unequal distribution of resources meant that social
98 Benefits Number 43 • Volume 13 • Issue 2 Disability: rights, work and security Marilyn Howard Disability is a complex and contested issue, often with tensions between policy approaches of ‘benefits’ and ‘rights’, that is, benefits as compensation for exclusion rather than civil rights to enable inclusion (Daniel, 1998). These intersect with different models of disability (medical, social and transactional: Howard, 2003). Traditionally, the medical model has been the ‘moral basis’ for benefits (SSAC, 1997), although increasingly the social model is accepted
The rights-based perspective on disability is a relatively new approach that moves away from medical and charity-based approaches (Stein, 2007 : 75–122). It is estimated that 15 per cent of the world’s population live with a disability. Persons with disability have been described by the United Nations (UN) as the world’s largest minority, the majority of whom live in developing countries. Women and persons with lower educational attainment are more likely to live with a disability. The UN has recently collated research on people with disabilities which
163 Why have disability categories in social security? Deborah Mabbett The specification of categories (for example, unemployment, old age, disability) is a well-established feature of social security. However, disability categories are problematic: the evidence on which decisions have to be made is complex, and understandings of the nature of disability are highly contested. Disability categories could be reformed by unification with other categories used in the same policy area (for example, unemployment) or by fragmentation into new, smaller categories
Key messages Public survey evidence produces official portraits of disability and also hidden figures of disabled people. No one model of disability offers a complete depiction of the diverse lived realities for disabled people. Each model casts some light and shadows on the multiplicity of experiences of disabled people. During the COVID-19 global pandemic we can observe a damning revelation of the dire conditions of the uncounted disabled and poorly supported disabled, particularly the homeless and seniors in long-term care facilities and nursing
175 Disability Working Allowance: what was the point? Norman Cockett Disability Working Allowance (DWA) was introduced in 1992 as a benefit to top up the wages of disabled people working 16 hours a week or more. This was the first major attempt, within UK social security policy, to help disabled people take up and remain in paid jobs. The formal evaluation of DWA suggested that the benefit had failed in a number of respects. The purpose of this article is to reflect on what was achieved by introducing DWA. The author looks at the stated objectives and other
