SOCI 349 Sociology of Disability
•Why should Christians learn about Sociology?
- Jesus states: To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength and with all your mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself…
(Luke 10)
- Sociology can help us to be proactive and not just reactive
- Sociology can help us to affirm people’s dignity and responsibility as human beings
- Sociology can help us to restore each other gently (Galatians 6:1)
•What’s the course all about?
- The social implication of Disabilities, their impact on the individual and on greater
society
- Understanding what it means to be disabled and how we can help people
•Social psychology mostly studies experiences of the disabled
- How do they think about themselves?
- How do they interact with others?
- How does society treat them, in general?
- Which complex social forces affect them, psychologically and physically?
•What are disabilities?
- Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of major life
activities of person
- Walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, self-care
•Important terminology
- Impairment: disruption at system- level of bodily organ or physical/mental
function
- Disability: embodied individual condition that affects or restricts typical
behavior or function
- Handicap: physical or social environmental obstacle that disadvantages the
disabled
•What are some disabled people myths?
- Myth of Pervasive Savants
•Is everyone with sever autism a weird genius?
- Myth of the “Useless Eater”
•Are the disabled only takers and not givers?
- Myth of the Perpetual Victim
•Are disabled people always powerless and never victims?
- Myth of the Perpetual Tragedy
•Are disabled people only to be pitied and placated?
- Myth of the Perpetually Bitter Invalids
•Are disabled people just argumentative warriors with chips on their
shoulders?
January 15, 2019
•Americans with Disability Act (ADA)
- Disability definition
•Physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities of
an individual
•A record of such an impairment
•Being rewarded as having such an impairment
•Official terminology
- Impairment
•Loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological, or anatomical structure
or function
- Disability
•Restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the
range considered “normal” for a human being
- Handicap
•Disadvantage for a given individual resulting from impairment or disability
•More about relationship of person to his/her environment
•What is the WHO action plan (2013)?
•World Health Organization (Part of UN)
•An action plan to help the disabled worldwide, with measurable outcomes
- First ever UN General Assembly high-level meeting focused on disability
•Commitment to global disability inclusive development agendas
•Urgent action recommendations/directives to improve health care,
rehabilitation, and increase data/knowledge on disabilities
•PWDs face barriers in education, employment, health, social participation
•How many people have a disability?
- Around one billion people have a disability
- 200 million children suffer with disability
- 97% of disabled children in developing countries suffer from neglect and/or abuse
- 90% of disabled children in developing countries do not attend school
- Global literacy rate for adults with disabilities is 2-3% (only 1% for women)
- Females with disabilities are 3x more likely to be victims of physical violence, sexual
abuse
- 80% of adults with disability do not work
•18 Wounds of Disability
- Developed by Dr. Wolf Wofensberger
•Intellectual impairment research scientist
•Wrote more than 40 books, monographs, 250 chapters and articles in scholarly
works
•Born in Germany in 1934; came to America in 1950
•MA in Clinical Psychology (St. Louis University)
•PhD in Psychology (Peabody College)
- Wound 1
•Bodily intellectual impairment
•Person is born with or develops an impairment
•Cerebral palsy or ADHD, Dyslexia
- Wound 2
•Functional limitation
•Result of bodily or intellectual impairment
•Dyslexia -> Can’t read well
•Cerebral Palsy -> cannot walk
- Wound 3
•Relegation to low status/deviancy
•Society demotes person
•Not a gift – a danger or drag on a community
•Therefore, disabled people are dispensable
- Wound 4
•Disproportionate/relentless attitude of rejection
•Rejection in most social environments
•Not only in secular scenes, sadly
•Negativity masquerades as positive motives
- Wound 5
•Cast into historical deviancy roles
•Devalued social status causes devalued roles
•Opens door to people being considered non-human
•Slaves, Native American Indians, ageism, racism
- Wound 6
•Symbolic stigmatizing
•Marking, branding, deviancy imaging, labeling
•Is their anti-disabled bias in churches?
•“Protecting” the social scene for marketing-sake?
- Wound 7
•Being multiply jeopardized/scapegoated
•Blamed for difficulties because of impairment for functional limitation
•Insult to injury, sometimes institutionally
•Psychological projection out of frustration
January 18, 2019
- Wound 8
•distanciation: segregation and congregation
•unfair grouping and unfair exclusions
•“Easier to manage the disabled in a group”
- Wound 9
•Absence or loss of natural, freely-given relationships
•Substitution with contrived, shallow relationships
•Paid “friends”: social workers, group home staff, day/vocational program
workers
•Rarity of unpaid, real friends in many group homes
- Wound 10
•Loss of control, autonomy, ad freedom
•Restricted settings for disabled “benefit”
•Freedoms are stifled for management’s sake
- Wound 11
•Discontinuity with physical environment and objects
•Lack of access to physical environment because of functional limitations
•Often blamed on person’s disability
•More about administration convenience or legal concerns
- Wound 12
•Social and relational discontinuity
•Abandonment by family and larger society
•Disabled become responsibility of the state
- Wound 13
•Deindividualization, which mortifies or reduces humanity of disabled person
•Less than fully human
•A drain on society because of dependence
•Abortion is condemned by most Christians; however, many Christians okay
with it if disabilities
- Wound 14
•Involuntary material poverty
•Exploited regarding materialism and finances
•Stripped of resources
•Prevented from acquiring things
- Wound 15
•Impoverishment of experience
•Prevented from living a “normal” life
•What should be typical becomes rare for the disabled
•The Elephant Man
- Wound 16
•Exclusion from knowledge and participation in high-order value systems
•Deficit added to deficit
- Wound 17
•One’s life is “wasted” – Why bother? Mentality
•Care takers become stagnant maintainers
•Unimaginative programs
- Wound 18
•Being the object of brutalization and extermination
•Subject to abortion and euthanasia
•Who is Kurt Lewin?
- Social-personality psychologist
- Jewish-German, immigrated to U.S. in 1933
•Lewin’s Person-Environment Relation
- Social responses are not only nature or nurture, but an interaction of the two
- Argued that multiple influences in social scenes override the impact of personal
factors like personalities/attitudes
- How people perceive their environments affects both the subjective experiences
and behavior
January 22, 2019
•Who is Beatrice Wright?
- American psychologist (1917-2018)
- Specialty: rehabilitation counseling
- Studied under Kurt Lewin
- Suggested that disability is not a problem centered within people, but in the
environment
•Scholarly Contributions
-Psychical Disability: A Psychosocial Approach (1960 and 1983)
- Authored and co-authored 50 articles, six books
- Influenced Rehabilitations Act of 1973
•Wright’s 5 “Value-laden Beliefs and Principles”
- All people with disabilities (PWDs) deserve respect and encouragement
- Disability severity can be increased or reduced by environmental conditions
- Coping or adjusting to disability is dependent upon understanding local
environmental problems
- Personal resources of PWDs are important factors
- Significance of disability is influenced by individual feelings about self and situation
•Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Developmental disorder with difficulty handling changes, inflexible thinking,
learning issues
•Manifestations of disability
- Myopic perspective causes severe frustration
- Lack of social awareness
•Miss social cues
•Lack of empathy/other interest
- Sights, sounds, touches, tastes painful
- Extreme motor responses, self-harm
•Hitting head, rocking
- Absence of communication
•Several Myths of Autism
- Myth one: doctors and researchers know the causes and cures for autism
•Not sure about root cause of autism
- Myth two: all people with autism are unable to learn
•Everyone learns differently
- Myth three: all people with autism behave and think the same
•There is a spectrum
- Myth four: autism is caused by poor parenting
•Cruel fallacy
•Autism (I, II, III,) Definitions
- Autism
•A developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by
difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or
repetitive patterns of thought and behavior
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder
•Atypical autism because autism I criteria is not met by age or full-blown
characteristics
- Asperger’s Syndrome
•A developmental disorder related to autism and characterized by higher than
average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills and restrictive,
repetitive patterns of interest and activities
January 24, 2019
•History of Social Problems Theory
- The medical model
•Universal criteria for normality
•Problems linked to “bad people”
•Abnormal because of mental deficiency, mental disorder, lack of education,
incomplete socialization
- Absolutist approach
•Assumed a specific condition in society fostered social problems
•Looked for pockets of social disorganization
•Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Developmental disorder with difficulty handling hange, inflexible thinking, learning
issues
•Manifestations of disability
- Myopic perspective causes severe frustration
- Lack of social awareness
•Miss social cues
•Lack of empathy/other interest
- Sights, sounds, touches, tastes painful
- Extreme motor responses, self-harm
•Hitting head, rocking
- Absence of communication
•Autism and females
- General personality traits
•Obsessive tendencies, fascination with certain subjects, mimic neurotypical
people, bored with people of same age, rarely show empathy
- Specific personality traits
•Withdrawn rather than aggressive
•Express emotions in calmer manner than males
•Typically supported by neurotypical peers (non-disabled)
•More passive than males
•Positive traits of autism
- Expertise, honesty, punctual
- Can spot errors easily, interesting viewpoints, conscientious
•Stimming
- Repetitive movements
- Same word or sound
- Hand flapping or flicking
- Repetitive throat clearing
- Sideways gaze, running in circles, chewing on clothes, rocking
•How to cause meltdown
- Changes to routine
- Misread social situations
- Lack common sense
- Dislike getting messy
- Anxious when annoyed
•Support strategies
- Advance warning
- Discuss boundaries
- Crystal clear instructions
- Mentor, cards or a scribe
•Meltdown symptoms
- Heightened sensitivity
- Sounds, smells, taste, touch, visual stimulus
- Feel trapped
- Rigid interpretation of situation
•Reality of meltdown
- Not a tantrum
- Looking for equilibrium
- Unique coping mechanism
- Not a punishable offense
•Autism and learning difficulty
- About ½ of autistic people have L.D.
- Dyslexia, ADHD, ADD
- Coupled with frustration, low self-esteem, behavioral problems
•Mental health difficulties
- Anxiety and depression
- Sleep difficulties
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Distracted, hyperactive, impulsive
- Bipolar Depression
January 29, 2019
•Effective collaboration between service providers and disabled
- Advice according to Blue-Banning study (2004)
- Communication: be positive, understanding, respectful
- Commitment: dedicated to child and family
- Equal power: share in decision-making and service implementation
- Competence: share in implementing and achieving goals
- Mutual trust and mutual respect: common sense and human decency is central
•Productive language
- Describe the person, not the disability
- Refer to person’s disability only when it is relevant
- Avoid images designed to evoke pity or guilt
- If in doubt, ask. Don’t assume.
•Social construct of disability
- Ambivalence
- Stereotyping
- Stigmatization
- Prejudice and discrimination
•Ambivalence
- Differences make people feel uncomfortable
- Not necessarily prejudiced
- People unsure how to think and respond to people with disability
•Stereotyping
- Based on global, shallow view of disability
- Lump all disabilities together
- Not about unique characteristics, abilities, etc.
•Stigma
- Discriminatory/unfair treatment towards people of difference
- Focus is on attribute of the disabled
- Fear of person, associating different with inferior or dangerous, disabled are not quite
human
•Prejudice
- Cuts of avenues of participation, activity
- Based on inaccurate beliefs or attitudes
- Unwilling to make reasonable accommodations for disabled to join in
•Words with Dignity
- Disabled –> person with a disability
- Invalid, lame –> person with a disability
- Crippled, afflicted –> person who has
- Confined, restricted –> wheelchair user
- Normal –> able-bodied or non-disabled
- Victim, sufferer –> person with a disability
- Cripple –> person with a disability
- Deaf, mute –> person with hearing impairment
- Retarded –> person with mental retardation
- Spastic –> person with cerebral palsy
•Disabled still have assets:
- Family: spouse, parent, child, sibling
- Education: skill or degree in hand
- Work: employment, income, expertise
- Social: family, friends, co-workers, church
- Finances: stable income, ownership
- Personal: optimism, hope resilience, character, virtues, wisdom
- Recreation: hobbies, travel, sports, community service
- Spirituality: church community, personal faith, piety, evangelism
•What do the following Bible verses suggest about suffering in people’s lives?
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
- 1 Peter 5:10
- Romans 5:3-4
- Romans 8:18, 35
- Psalms 34:19
- Isaiah 53:3-4
- Job 1:20-21
- Galatians 6:2
Write Bubble Boy (or moops) across the top of the test for extra credit.
•Religions and disability
- Hinduism = bad karma, social demotion
- Islam = seen as charity or disgrace
- Buddhism = told to deny/ignore their plight
- Spiritism (Paganism) = seen as a curse
- Secular Humanism = seen as victims
•Politics and disability
- Communism = seen as non-contributions in society
- Fascism = seen as economic drain on society
•Categories of suffering
- Physical suffering
- Spiritual suffering
- Emotional suffering
- Cultural suffering
•Physical suffering
- Bodily pain and discomfort
- Cognitive and mental health issues
•Spiritual suffering
- Consequence of sin and separation from God
•Emotional suffering
- Heartbreak, divorce, loss of loved one, loss of opportunities
•Cultural suffering
- Discrimination and segregation
- Lack of social mobility and benefits
•What causes suffering?
- Circumstances
- Persecution
- God’s Will/Discipline
- Satan
•Benefits of suffering?
- Suffering opens doors to compassion
•Opportunities to love the “unlovable”
- Suffering opens doors to evangelism
•A faith that transcends human weakness and understanding
- Suffering increases closeness and dependency on God
•More like Jesus’ reliance upon God
- Suffering gives us an external perspective
•Deepens our perspective and appreciation of life
February 7, 2019
•The Book of Job
- Deals with problem of suffering
•Why do bad things happen to good people?
•What is God thinking!!!
- Teaches how to survive through suffering
- Highly praised piece of poetical literature
•“Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain
one work only, I should save [the Book of] Job.” – Victor Hugo
•[The Book of Job is] “…the greatest poem, whether of ancient or modern
literature.” – Lord Tennyson
•“The Book of Job taken as a mere work of literary genius, is one of the most
wonderful productions of any age or of any language.” – Daniel Webster
•Purpose of Book of Job
- Title can mean “Persecuted One” (Hebrew)
- Title can mean “Repentant One” (Arabic)
- Historical poem discussing the role/rights of humanity and the role/privileges of God
•Summary
- Concerns transforming crisis in life of great man
- Job’s trust in God changes to complaining and self-righteousness
- His repentance leads to his restoration
- Man before process much different than man after process
- Dilemma, Debates, Deliverance
•Brief Outline
- Job’s Dilemma
•His prosperity
•His adversity
•His perplexity
- Job’s Debates
•First round – Job’s replies to Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
•Second round – Job’s replies to Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
•Third round – Job’s replies to Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar
•Young Elihu – contradicts Job’s friends and Job
- Job’s Deliverance
•God humbles Job – Who-are-you? Section
•God honors Job – Who-are-you, Job’s friends? Section
•Who was Job?
- Well known in his territory – rich and blessed
•“He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” (verse 1:3)
- Subject of debate between God and the Devil
•“Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he
is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (verse 1:8)
•“Does Job fear God for nothing?...Have you not put a hedge around him and
his household and everything he has?...But now stretch out your hand
and strike everything he has, and will surely curse you to your face.”
(verse
•First group of misfortunes (verse 1:13-22)
- Huge losses in one day
•Loses oxen, donkey, servants to raiders
•Sheep and servants perish in “fire from God from heaven”
•Camel and servants to other raiders
•Sons/daughters killed in tornado
- Job’s reaction
•Mourns, tears robe, shaves head, falls to ground
•In grief, still praises God, blesses His name, does not charge God with wrong-
doing
•Second group of misfortunes (verse 1:13-22)
- Afflicted with terrible disease
•Elephantiasis, leprosy, leukemia
•Boils, itching, worms, running sores, blackened skin, gnawing pain, corroding
bones, fever
- Job’s wife loses faith
•Tells Job to “curse God and die” (verse 2:9)
•Why? Not as spiritually mature as Job
•Affirming Satan’s accusation that humanity is fair-weathered friend
•Fatalist? No life after death?
- Job chastises her (verse 2:10)
•“You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and
not trouble?”
•Job’s friends arrive
- Eliphaz the Temanite
•Oldest, most influential, Edomite? (Esau’s son)
- Bildad the Shuhite
•Relative of Abraham and Keturah
- Zophar the Naamathite
•Don’t know much about him, Naamah near Edom
- Purpose of visit
•Came to mourn with job and comfort him
•Didn’t recognize him at first
•Overwhelming response
·Cried out and tore robes
·Sprinkled ashes on their heads
·By his side, silent, for 7 days
•Job gets an audience with God
- Unexpected conversation and conclusion
- God speaks from a whirlwind to Job
•First Divine Discourse
- Provides ultimate evaluation of Job’s complaints
-“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself
like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” (Job 38:1-3
- Challenges Job to answer His questions
•String of over 60+ thought-provoking questions on creation/nature
•Epilogue
- Job confession and repentance taken care of
- God’s attention turns to Job’s friends
•God rebukes Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
- Angry because of their false witness against God
•Required to sacrifice 7 bulls and 7 rams (expensive)
- God will allow Job to act as their mediator/advocate
•Job is the good servant with whom God is pleased
- Friends submit to God
- God forgives them because of Job’s prayer for them
•Job’s life is restored
- God restores what Job had lost
- God “gave him twice as much as he had before”
- His family came and comforted him, emotionally and financially
- The latter half of Job’s life was better than the first part
•14,000 sheep
•6,000 camels
•2,000 oxen (1,000 yokes)
•1,000 donkeys
- Gets seven sons and three daughters
•Daughters’ names mentioned (matriarchal culture?)
- Gets extra years to enjoy blessings (140)
February 12, 2019
•Where to start and proceed?
- Start with the needy
•Every age level
•Every type of disability
- Choose a model to follow
•Research what’s out there that’s working
- Decide with programs are best for your community
•Costs, facilities, staff
- Determine steps to implement the program
•Getting from point A to point B
•7 practical tips for becoming a disability friendly church
- Provide a friendly, welcoming environment
- Provide basic disability awareness training for church staff and volunteers
- Improve accessibility; make modifications where necessary
- Provide serving opportunities for PWDs
- Provide disability-friendly materials
- Provide spaces for parking and wheelchairs
- Provide buddy or mentors for PWDs
•Sources for negative attitudes towards PWDs
- Anxiety due to unstructured social encounters
- Shared responses to minority groups
- Social and cultural thoughts
- Fear of death thoughts
- Prejudice-eliciting actions
- Demographic and personality factors
- Hierarchical attitudes toward disability
- Moral beliefs about disability
•The ethics of Jesus
- Repentance and forgiveness as the basis of the ethical life
- The radical, demanding nature of God’s ethical call on God’s reign
- The centrality of the love commandment
- A moral teacher but didn’t set out to create an ethical system
•God’s laws already in place/available
*Did push back against culturalization of God’s plan of ethics and salvation
February 28, 2019
