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Disability workshop
- 1. Disability Hate Crime Challenging thinking: changing lives Challenging thinking: changing lives
- 2. The Medical and Social Models of Disability 03/10/12 2
- 3. The Medical Model • Disabled People are excluded because of the functioning of their mind, bodies or senses. • This is the traditional way of thinking about disability. • Says that ‘impairment’ is the root cause of exclusion. 03/10/12 3
- 4. A Medical Model Assessment What can’t they do? 03/10/12 4
- 5. The Effects of the Medical Model Lack of self-esteem Professionals make decisions Labelling Invisibility Negative media portrayals ‘Ordinary’ services off-limits Segregated services 03/10/12 5
- 6. The Social Model • Impairment: “the loss or limitation of physical, mental or sensory function on a long-term / permanent basis.” • Disability: “the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the community on an equal level with others because of physical and social barriers.” 03/10/12 6
- 7. Applying the Social Model Prejudice Inaccessible Public Transport Lack of inclusive education Inaccessible Inaccessible Buildings Information Lack of accessible housing Inaccessible Services Discrimination 03/10/12 7
- 8. The social model says… • Disability is the loss, limitation or denial of rights by society, to a point where someone is restricted or completely excluded • Disability is an experience, not a medical condition • A Disabled Person has an impairment, not a disability 03/10/12 8
- 9. What does this mean in practice? • Focus of work shifts towards identifying and removing disabling barriers • Discrimination is addressed by examining policies, systems and the physical environment 03/10/12 9
- 10. s a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's ability to car Equality Act Disability Definition • A person has a disability if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. 03/10/12 10
- 11. What is independent living? “Independent living for disabled people is often misunderstood. It does not mean disabled people 'doing everything for themselves' but that the practical assistance some disabled people need should be provided and based on individual choices and aspirations. It means having the same choice, control and freedom as other citizens at home, at work, in education, and as equal citizens.” DRC, 2005
- 12. 12 Basic Rights of Independent Living Access Transport Equipment Housing Personal Assistant Job Money Education Information Advocacy Peer Support Healthcare
- 13. What is Disability Hate Crime • Any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person's disability or perceived disability. • There is no official definition in law.
- 14. • There were 1,942 recorded incidents of disability hate crime in England and Wales in 2011, an increase of more than 25% on the total for 2010 • In the same period there were 523 convictions. 03/10/12 14
- 15. • Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act created a “sentencing provision” imposing a duty upon courts to increase the sentence for any offence where the perpetrator was hostile towards the victim because of the victim’s disability (or assumed disability – whether or not this assumption is correct). • This means that when the court is deciding on the sentence to be imposed, it must treat evidence of hostility based on disability as something which makes the offence more serious. 03/10/12 15
Editor's Notes
- Under the medical model, disabled people are excluded or restricted from taking part because of an issue to do with the functioning of either our minds, bodies or senses. So there is something intrinsically inferior about our biology, the way we are made up. This has been the traditional way of thinking for thousands upon thousands of years.
- So with the medical model it's like you are put under the microscope by the medical profession and the focus is always on what can't we do, what are our limitations? These are what dictate our chances in life.
- So, if we accept this way of thinking - that our impairments, or biological differences / medical conditions, are the so-called ‘problem’ then the sort of solutions that arise from this way of thinking are firstly segregated services, things like special transport, special schools day centres, sheltered workshops, care homes etc. Secondly we also get a whole load of professionals spring up in order to facilitate these services; various types of doctors and therapists and social care professionals etc.
- However, in the 70s disabled people started to get together and compare their experiences. What they found was although they might have different impairments (e.g. some might have been visually impaired, some were wheelchair users, some were hearing-impaired or Deaf, some had learning difficulties or mental health issues), their experiences were all pretty similar (i.e. experiences of being left out, excluded, prevented from working, getting a home or a decent education etc). To describe their own life experiences they came up with an alternative, an opposite way to the medical model to look at disability. We now call it the social model of disability. The social model says, yes we have people with impairments, biological differences. The official definition on the slide says a “loss or limitation of physical mental or sensory function for the long-term or permanent basis”. But impairment does not disables us / stop us doing what we would want to do. Under the social model, disability becomes the effect of society not taking the requirements of people with impairments into account. The official definition says that disability is the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the community on an equal level to others due to physical and social barriers. So, impairment is to do with our biology, whilst disability is consequence of how our society is organised.
- If we go back to the previous diagram and change it so that instead of our impairments being the problem, it’s the way society is organised is the problem, then the focus of our work shifts away from doing s separate things for disabled people and towards changing what we already have so that it becomes accessible, inclusive and everyone can use it. Therefore the problems to be addressed become things like discrimination in employment; segregated (separate) services; poverty; belief in the medical model - belief that we are inferior; inaccessible information, transport and environments; prejudice; devaluing and a lack of inclusive education.
- So to reiterate then, under the social model disability becomes a loss, limitation or denial of rights by society to a point where someone is restricted from taking part or excluded altogether. Therefore disability is an experience - the effect of society on upon people with impairments - not a medical condition. Impairments are our medical conditions; disability is something that we experience. Therefore we don't say people with disabilities - we are people with impairments but we are disabled by society therefore we are disabled people. That is the reason why that particular identity was chosen.
- And finally what does working to the social model mean in practice? Well basically the focus of work shifts looking at our organisations and removing the barriers that would stop people with impairments from taking part. So this requires you to look at discrimination by examining policies, systems and procedures (basically the way we operate) and identifying / removing barriers that might stop people with different impairments from using those services or being employed. This is recommended as good practice for public authorities by the Local Government Association and, until it was dissolved, the Disability Rights Commission as well.
- The disabled people’s movement has campaigned for independent living for disabled people. Disabled people define independence differently as this quote from the Disability Rights Commission illustrates: "independent living for disabled people is often misunderstood. It does not mean disabled people doing everything for themselves but that the practical assistance some disabled people need should be provided and based on individual choices and aspirations. It means having the same choice, control and freedom as other citizens at home, work, in education and as equal citizens." So it's not about doing it by yourself, it's about choosing what you do, choosing when you do it, choosing who you do it with, and if you need assistance to do it then choosing who provides that assistance. That is independent living.
- However independent living is about more than just one to one support. Disabled people within the movement have long seen the day-to-day reality of Independent Living requiring twelve basic fundamental rights to sustain it. These are: Full access to the environment - This covers physical access such as dropped kerbs, level entrances to buildings and accessible toilets. It also covers access to all aspects of mainstream life, involving the removal of barriers caused by systems, practices and attitudes which prevent disabled people from participating A fully accessible transport system - This includes physical access to public transport, accessible information about the routes, assistance for passengers and routes which take into account the needs of disabled people. It also includes access to personal transport such as cars. Technical aids / equipment - Many disabled people need practical equipment to assist them in living independently. Accessible/adapted housing - This may mean wheelchair access or support and advice to enable some disabled people to live in their own homes. Personal assistance - This is the one to one support that some disabled people need to live in their own home and be part of the community. Inclusive education and training - disabled people need the same opportunities as everyone else to get an education. An adequate income - Disabled people have all the costs that none disabled people have and they often have additional costs too. Equal opportunities for employment - Discrimination stops disabled people getting jobs and having careers. Appropriate and accessible information - Disabled people require accessible information on what is available to assist with independent living. Advocacy (towards self-advocacy) - Advocacy is about having your say. It is sometimes called 'speaking up for yourself'. Sometimes people need help to represent their views. Peer support / counselling – The people who are best placed to give advice and support on independent living are disabled people themselves. Appropriate and accessible healthcare provision – Disabled people require healthcare just like anyone else. However disabled people have said that doctors should not have power over what opportunities they have in life, by deciding what they can or cannot do.