SOCIAL POLICY AND PERSONAL LIFE

Social Policy Constructs Personal Lives of People with Disabilities

Social Policy Constructs Personal Lives of People with Disabilities

Introduction

People with disabilities are labelled, stigmatized, marked for life by the mere fact of being different and placed in a position of inferiority. This has led to attitudes of rejection, shame, distress and discomfort, also over-familiar behaviour, which leads to treat them as people unable to fend for themselves, strengthened and developed. The disabled person, being in theory a person with the same rights as others, is prevented from exercising them for the conduct of discrimination that society says, making them feel like "second class citizens." It argues that there is no person who is fully capable. Hidden disabilities are not obvious, such as psychological disabilities often go unnoticed, are suppressed, because the system does not allow that to manifest.

This topic should relate the numbers of people with disabilities with the average family group members, since the presence of a deficit affects and involves the family, who must provide support and protection to persons with disabilities.

However, even though it is important to know how many there are, the greater concern is the situation of discrimination and lack of equal opportunities in education, work, health and architectural barriers, social and cultural barriers to their actual integration into the community, and that, moreover, that social disadvantage is greater than the rest of the population.

Discussion

A life course approach to disability involves a number of interrelated issues and debates across each generational stage. Key debates that stem from a critical disability studies perspective focus on the role of the family and health, the influence of policy and legislation, and the ability to enact self-determination, all of which are critical to furthering our understanding of a disability across the life course (Fink, et al., 2009, pp. 19-40).

One of the most ubiquitous and controversial debates in a life course approach to disability centres on questions about the “worth” or “value” of a life. Such questions are underpinned by medicine, culture, religion, and/or moral beliefs. These varying approaches all have a significant role in valuing and determining what should guide decisions about the worth of a life. Compounding this issue is an ongoing challenge that people with disabilities face in transitioning though generational stages, especially when the markers of success focus on autonomy and independence. Factors such as the type of disability, the availability of informal and formal supports, and economic resources influence concepts around “normal” transitions through life stages. Additionally, as medical advances change the level of information and knowledge about disability, and as the population of persons with a disability increases at birth and in aging, the issues become more complex. At times, there may be competing perspectives on what is “best” at any given life stage among families; individuals; medical, health care, and other service professionals; disability rights activists and scholars; and government (Fink, et al., 2009, pp. 19-40).

Care and Social Live

The current state of health care in Western countries sets up an expectation for ...