Reflections on the social model of distress or madness: how to make the social model of disability accessible to people with mental health challenges

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 231-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Kinn
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mental Health Challenges ◽  
Disability Movement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between recovery approaches and the social model of disability developed within the broader disability movement. Design/methodology/approach Personal narrative and reflective account written from the perspective of a senior peer trainer with reference to selected literature. Findings It is important to embrace a social model and rights-based approach within recovery approaches. Originality/value An original viewpoint on the perspective of a peer trainer linking recovery approaches to the social model and rights-based approach developed within the broader disability arena.

scholarly journals Dyslexia and policing

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 634-651
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Macdonald ◽  
Faye Cosgrove
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
Police Service ◽  
The North ◽  
The Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of officers/civilians with dyslexia serving in the police service in England and Wales. Although there has been a growing body of research which has analysed the experiences of offenders and victims with dyslexia, there have been few studies focusing on the experiences of police officers/civilians with this condition. This study employs the social model of disability to conceptualise the experiences of these police officers/civilians from a disability rights perspective. Design/methodology/approach This applies a quantitative methodology to analyse data on disabling environments experienced by officers/civilians serving in a police service situated in the North of England. The paper collected data from 56 police employees previously diagnosed with dyslexia. Findings The findings reveal that a significant number of officers were reluctant to disclose that they had dyslexia to their police service. The choice to disclose was a key concern for officers/civilians, as this was directly linked to their experiences of stigmatisation, as well as the risk of their competences being questioned at work. The analysis presents evidence that, although officers/civilians have legal protections under the Equality Act 2010 (c15) in the UK, very few had experienced any form of “reasonable adjustment” in the workplace. Originality/value Drawing on the social model of disability, the paper concludes that the police service must improve access to reasonable adjustment, for example, through the use of assistive technologies, to create a more inclusive and supportive working environment for their employees.

Help yourself to our staff kitchen: a peer worker’s reflections on microaggressions

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Time Sharing ◽  
Support Worker ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Worker Experience ◽  
Points Of Resistance ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the sanist microaggressions that peer workers face working in mental health and proposes ways in which peer workers and institutions may begin to challenge sanist practices within the sector.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is written as a personal narrative. It explores a “moment” in the life of the author as a peer support worker.FindingsPeer workers are often faced with sanist microaggressions on the job which can significantly affect peer workers’ capacity over time. Sharing our stories, identifying points of resistance and working collectively to challenge microaggressions are important to peer worker survival within the mental health system. Organisations that train or employ peer workers should be aware of sanist microaggressions and learn how to strategically respond to them.Originality/valueThe paper documents the experiences of the author. There is limited academic literature documenting peer worker experience of microaggressions.

Responses of the Occupational Therapy Profession to the Perspective of the Disability Movement, Part 1

1996 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Craddock
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Occupational Therapy Interventions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Disability Movement

Since the 1960s, people with disabilities have been developing their own perspective on what it means to be disabled. At the vanguard of this development was the independent living movement which, with other organisations of disabled people, identified disabled people as a group experiencing a particular oppression, disabled by social processes and handicapped by society's lack of commitment to the creation of enabling environments. Part 1 of this article examines the genesis and development of the disability movement. The ideas and analysis that the disability movement has generated and its critique of the medical model of disability are outlined, and its impact — both ideological and legislative — is reviewed. The changing professional philosophy of occupational therapy is described and the impact on it of changing social values is assessed. Part 2 will review the explicit responses of the occupational therapy profession to the disability movement. The validity of the social model of disability for occupational therapy interventions will be considered and an analysis will be presented of the implications for the profession's philosophy and practice of the adoption of the social model of disability in appropriate areas of practice.

My evolving understanding of recovery

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-132
Author(s):  
Robyn Lorna Lees
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Personal Account ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Journey ◽  
Mental Health Conditions

Purpose – The purpose of this viewpoint is to discuss a personal account of the author's personal journey of recovery and evolving understanding of recovery. Design/methodology/approach – A personal narrative describing the ways in which the author's understanding of recovery has been challenged and has evolved. Reference to theories of learning is made to understand this process. Findings – That reflection and re-evaluation of long held beliefs is a painful process. It involves not simply adding to existing knowledge but “supplantive learning” – learning as loss: changing how the author sees things having processed new “threshold concepts” (Atherton, 2013b). Originality/value – A personal account of the painful process of change that has relevance for both people rebuilding their lives with mental health conditions and those who are working with them.

Responses of the Occupational Therapy Profession to the Perspective of the Disability Movement, Part 2

1996 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Craddock
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Disability Movement ◽  
Model Of Practice

In part 1 of this article, the origins and development of the disability movement were described. The movement's perspective of a social model of disability and its critique of the adoption of a medical model of practice by the rehabilitation professions were discussed. The evolving professional philosophy of the occupational therapy profession was explored. In part 2, the explicit responses of the occupational therapy profession in the UK and in the USA to the concerns of the disability movement are described. The implications for the philosophy and practice of occupational therapy of the adoption of a social model of disability in appropriate interventions are discussed. The conclusion is reached that the occupational therapy profession has yet to debate fully the validity of the social model of disability for appropriate areas of professional practice. The author foresees two major effects of its adoption: a clarification of the philosophical base underpinning such practice and a changed professional role.

Real lives: promoting recovery through personalisation and peer support

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Perkins ◽  
Julie Atkins ◽  
Nicole Hunter ◽  
Poppy Repper ◽  
Peter David Robertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Peer Support ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Successful Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Interest ◽  
Mental Health Challenges

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of Real Lives: a community interest company that provides peer support for people who face significant mental health challenges using personal budgets. Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers a descriptive summary of the vision behind Real Lives and the successful realisation of this vision in practice based on interviews by the first author with the directors, Operational Manager, Cafe Manager and “Peers and Allies for in Living” who provide support to clients. Findings – The successful development of Real Lives shows that it is possible to utilise peer support and personal budgets to a create small, values based, financially viable organisation outside the statutory sector that is part of its community and can provide outside the statutory sector. A service for people facing significant mental health challenges that is personalised, recovery-focused and puts the client in control and is focused on helping them to do the things they want to do and pursue their aspirations. Originality/value – Real Lives is an innovative recovery-focused service that is part of its community and offers a model for utilising Self-Directed Support and personal budgets and that might be replicated by others.

scholarly journals Positive aspects of disability among college students

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Sniatecki ◽  
Jennifer Randhare Ashton ◽  
Holly B. Perry ◽  
Linda H. Snell
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
College Education ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social

Purpose The number of students with disabilities pursuing a college education has increased dramatically in recent years (Hall and Belch, 2000; Hitchings et al., 2011; Horn et al., 2006; Retish and Horvath, 2005; Snyder et al., 2016; Stodden et al., 2001), yet, evidence suggests that these students continue to encounter significant challenges and barriers that may have a dramatic effect on their college experience (Madaus and Shaw, 2006; Sniatecki et al., 2015; Stodden et al., 2001). The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach Positive experiences and aspects of being a college student with a disability have not garnered as much consideration and have received little attention in the professional literature to date. The current study sought to address this gap through examination of positive aspects of disability among 12 undergraduate students. Data were gathered via qualitative interviews. Findings Results included five distinct themes related to students’ experiences: personal growth and self-acceptance; empathy/understanding; advocacy and teaching others; unique relationship experiences and opportunities; and drive/determination/perseverance. Research limitations/implications The implications of these themes and future directions for research on positive aspects of disability are also addressed. Originality/value The results of this study provide support for the social model of disability as a lens to view individuals with disabilities as complete people who, with their impairments, can and do go on to lead positive and meaningful lives.

scholarly journals Place, mobility and social support in refugee mental health

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-348
Author(s):  
Sevasti-Melissa Nolas ◽  
Charles Watters ◽  
Keira Pratt-Boyden ◽  
Reima Ana Maglajlic
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Refugee Mental Health ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research And Design ◽  
Health And Well Being

Purpose This review and theoretical analysis paper aims to bring together literatures of place, mobility, refugees and mental health to problematise the ways in which social support is practised on the ground and to rethink its possibilities. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on an interdisciplinary understanding of social support that focusses on the social networks and significant and intimate relationships that mitigate negative mental health and well-being outcomes. The authors explore the dialectic relationship between place and mobility in refugee experiences of social support. Findings The authors argue that, in an Euro-American context, practices of social support have historically been predicated on the idea of people-in-place. The figure of the refugee challenges the notion of a settled person in need of support and suggests that people are both in place and in motion at the same time. Conversely, attending to refugees’ biographies, lived experiences and everyday lives suggests that places and encounters of social support are varied and go beyond institutional spaces. Research limitations/implications The authors explore this dialectic of personhood as both in place and in motion and its implications for the theorisation, research and design of systems of social support for refugees. Originality/value This paper surfaces the dialectics of place and mobility for supporting refugee mental health from an interdisciplinary perspective.

When affirmative action is not enough: challenges in career development of persons with disability

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 617-639
Author(s):  
Amit Gupta ◽  
Pushpendra Priyadarshi
Keyword(s):  
Career Development ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
The Social ◽  
Positive Discrimination

PurposeThere is dearth of research pertaining to how persons with disability (PWDs) view their career and the issues they face in career development; past studies highlight either the organizational initiatives or individual factors in this regard. The present study bridges this gap by studying the PWDs' experiences and perceptions on challenges in their career development.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory study through interview of professionally qualified PWDs in India, who have a permanent employment.FindingsPWDs experience that affirmative action has a negative fallout as it leads to positive discrimination and hence, adversely affects their confidence and development.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study throws up new themes in the organizational climate that the PWDs face in career development, future studies can understand the aspirations of PWDs toward career and focus on the how the PWDs engage in shaping their career. Researchers can explore strategies that PWDs plan/adopt in creating a sustainable career for themselves. Scholars can also map the issues raised by PWDs with the career outcomes.Social implicationsThe Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, of Government of India introduces a social model of disability in India. This paper deploys the social model of disability to enhance our understanding of the disability climate in India from a new lens.Originality/valueThis study introduces new themes that depict the environmental factors and are related to the organizational climate rather than self-focused issues of PWDs. The paper introduces two new subjective criteria, voiced by PWDs, for career development – a well-crafted capability-based career path and role of inspirational platforms. It introduces hitherto undiscovered issues toward career development, faced by PWDs who have a secure employment and a professional career. This is the first exclusive study of PWDs employed in public sector and thus, brings uniqueness in the context.

Volunteer to Work (V2W) scheme

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Japleen Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Return To Work ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Project ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Paid Employment ◽  
The Social

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the Volunteer to Work scheme running as part of a return to work pathway. Design/methodology/approach – Illustrative account of the origin, structure and processes involved. Findings – Personal narrative accounts by current volunteers evidence the social and emotional benefits of volunteering. Of the 237 people who have engaged as volunteers, 27 are now in paid employment. Originality/value – A case study of one innovative project which has the capacity to grow and to be transferred to other organisations.

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