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A Sociocultural Model of Impairment Disability©

DEVVA KASNITZ AND RUSSELL SHUTTLEWORTH

University of California, BerkeleyDecember, 2003

Shuttleruss@msn.com * Devva@earthlink.net

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Goals of this Project◄ to create a model of impairment-disability committed

to the inherent value of human difference, and of equal access to social, cultural and material goods

◄ to create a model that enables us to recognize, map, and analyze disability oppression in diverse cultures

◄ to develop our model incorporating sociopolitical, cultural, ecological, and existential-phenomenological theories of impairment-disability

◄ to create a processual, temporal, spatial, and contextual model of impairment-disability

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Impairment Disability

Why the hyphen?

◄to problematize anthropologists’ prior use of these terms

◄to highlight the processual nature of the relationship between these and other terms in our model

◄to stress the need for analytical specificity within this process

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Review and Critique of Models and Theories of Impairment-Disability

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SOCIOPOLITICAL DISABILITY MODELS

Independent Living Model (De Jong)◄ states that current sociopolitical structures produce access barriers for

and dependency in impaired people resulting in disability◄ is based on a consumer driven movement that fosters autonomy, self-help

and the removal of societal barriers and disincentives

Minority Group Model (Hahn)◄ describes how current sociopolitical structures produce access barriers

for and discrimination against impaired people resulting in disability◄ is motivated by a political and research strategy used to counter

discrimination and advocate for civil rights

British Social Model (Oliver)◄ sees the historical convergence of industrialization and capitalism as

restricting impaired people’s access to material and social goods, which results in their economic dependency and creates the category of disability

◄ is motivated by a political and research strategy used to combat socioeconomic oppression and to transform the material structures that marginalize and devalue the capabilities of impaired people

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Theories of Impairment Disability

Postmodern Theory◄ Scott-Hill (Corker) and Shakespeare

• see disability as constructed via discursive practices

• add a discursive theory of communication to the current materialistic focus on structure

• perceives disability identity as fluid and its boundaries dependent on context and the dynamic interaction of other self-identities

• emphasizes a dialogic relation between impairment and disability (not an analytical privileging of one over the other)

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THEORIES OF DISABILITY …continued

Phenomenological Theories◄Hughes and Paterson

• sees disability as the embodiment of negative cultural perceptions and attitudes

• perceive impairment as socioculturally constructed

• posit that the non-disabled structure of embodied contexts of meaning creates disabled people’s social dys-appearance

• advocate for a cultural-phenomenological restructuring of carnal contexts of meaning along more inclusive lines

◄Shuttleworth• posits that embodied sensitivities to certain social situations

reveal disability oppression

• analyzes lived metaphors of embodiment (i.e blocked, trapped) as felt remembrances of past disability oppression/empowerment

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THEORIES OF DISABILITY …continued

Ecological Contextual Community Based Theories◄Seekins

• perceives impairment as situational and contextually constructed

• sees disability as a response to environmental systems and pressures

• advocates for community development strategies to restructure disabling barriers to access and increased participation

◄Kasnitz• analyzes systemic and situational ethno-embodiment

• perceives impairment as one culturally constructed resolution to the tension of embodied anomaly

• posits that disability and handicap are unique systemic constructions of differential access throughout the life course and in valued cultural domains

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Anthropology

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ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO IMPAIRMENT DISABILITY

Social Complexity Theory (Scheer and Gross)◄ states that in modern complex societies visible impairments are commonly thought

to classify individual identities

◄ in small scale societies visible impairments are less important in classifying individuals

Stigma Theory (Goffman)◄ sees impairments as representing one kind of undesired difference from social

expectations that are discrediting (the stigmatization process)

◄ perceives disability as a sociocultural construction

Liminality Theory (Turner, Murphy, et. al.)◄ looks at ritual process that separates and then reintegrates individuals into the social

fabric after a period of liminality (betwixt and between)

◄ sees disability as a social suspension, a liminal state frozen in time

Anomaly Theory (Douglas)◄ looks at phenomena that fall in between cultural categories and create cultural

tension and dissonance

◄ is often used in conjunction with liminality theory to explain the marginality of disabled people

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ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO IMPAIRMENT DISABILITY

Phenomenology (Frank)

◄ focuses on the disabled person’s body image

◄ concedes the “other” is “unknowable”

Personhood (Ingstad and Whyte)

◄ focuses on what the constituent features of personhood (valued adult social statuses) are in a society

◄ asks, to what extent are disabled people accorded these features?

Disablement Process (Luborsky)

◄ sees disability as a process primarily defined by a loss of personhood

Semiotics (Stiker)

◄ focuses on the degree of and types of integration-exclusion of disabled people

◄ played out on several cultural levels: biological, social, medical, ethical, religious, etc.

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Research on impairment disability:◄is problematic because most studies have been conducted

in North America

◄often focuses on single impairments with no attempts at cross-impairment analysis within a society or between societies

◄is only beginning to develop taxonomies of what are perceived to be impairments in different societies, and which impairments are disabling and why

◄does not provide ethnographic description of the full range of human interactions occurring in valued and changing contexts/domains of everyday life

◄often overlooks important understudied impairment-disability variables such as “hide-ability,” predictability, availability of accommodations, social acceptability of disabilities, etc.

CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY AND RESEARCH ON DISABILITY

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CRITIQUE OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY AND RESEARCH ON DISABILITY ….continued

Research on impairment-disability:◄often over generalizes across the life-course

from the perspective of one age group to others

◄is terminologically imprecise

◄is parochial and does not engage disability studies literature

◄subscribes to a radical relativistic approach and minimally analyzes relations of power

◄in general is undertheorized

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Sociocultural Model of

Impairment Disability

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Perceptual-Conceptual Layers

Posit Bio-Physics

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Perceptual-Conceptual Layers

Ethnoscience

Posit Bio-Physics

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Perceptual-Conceptual Layers

Ethnoscience

Posit Bio-Physics

Ethno-Embodiment

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Perceptual-Conceptual Layers

Ethnoscience

Posit Bio-Physics

Ethno-Embodiment

Embodied Anomaly

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Experiential

Ethnoscience

Posit Bio-Physics

Ethno-Embodiment

Embodied Anomaly

Impairment

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability: The Experiential

Ethnoscience

Posit Bio-Physics

Ethno-Embodiment

Embodied Anomaly

Impairment

Disability

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability: The Experiential

Ethnoscience

Posit Bio-Physics

Ethno-Embodiment

Embodied Anomaly

Impairment

Disability

Handicap

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability

Impairment

EthnoscienceEthno-Embodiment

Impairment

Disability

Handicap

Chronic IllnessPosit Bio-Physics

Embodied Anomaly

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability: The Embodied Political Layers

EthnoscienceEthno-Embodiment

Chronic IllnessPosit Bio-Physics

Impairment

DisabilityHandicap

Embodied Anomaly

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Access Barriers

Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability: The Embodied Political Layers

Access Participation Barriers

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Embodied Political Layers

EthnoscienceEthno-Embodiment

Impairment

DisabilityHandicap

Chronic IllnessPosit Bio-Physics

Access Barriers

Embodied Anomaly

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A FIELDWORK MAP:Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Ritual and Spiritual Life

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A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of Exclusion

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A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of Exclusion

Belief Practice

Denominational

Nondenominational

Meaning Form

Structured

Unstructured

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion Education and Training

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Education and Training

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion Education and Training

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Content Format

Formal

Informal

Meaning Form

Structured

Unstructured

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion Education and Training

Family and Household Life

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion Education and Training

Family and Household Life

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Orientation Procreation

Public

Intimate

Meaning Form

Structured

Unstructured

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion Education and Training

Family and Household Life

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Reality

Earning

Assets

Expectations

Economic Activities

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Political Life

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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Ritual and Spiritual LifeAccess Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Political Life

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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A FIELDWORK MAP:Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Ritual and Spiritual Life

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Access Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Policy Office

Structured

Unstructured

Political Life

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Ritual and Spiritual Life

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Political Life

Sexuality

Communication

Access Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Economic Activities

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

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A FIELDWORK MAP:Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Ritual and Spiritual Life

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Political Life

Sexuality

Access Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

Meaning Form

Structured

Unstructured

Communication

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Family and Household Life

Political Life

Economic Activities

Education and Training

Ritual and Spiritual Life

Sexuality: Sexual Access

Communication: Communication Image

A FIELDWORK MAP: Access and Exclusion in Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Access Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

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A FIELDWORK MAP:Mapping Embodied Access Exclusion

Family and Household Life

Political Life

Economic Activities

Education and Training

Ritual and Spiritual Life

Sexuality

Communication

Axis of Access Exclusion

Access Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

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A FIELDWORK MAP:Sample Valued Cultural Domains

Ritual and Spiritual Life

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Political Life

Sexuality

Communication

Emic/Etic N

egotiated D

isability Threshold

Access Barriers and Experience of

Exclusion

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Individual Approach

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Life Course Event History Model

Time

Status or Role 1Transformation 1

Status or Role 2

Transformation 2Status or Role 3

Status or Role 4

Transformation 3Events

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◄ b

Experience ofDisability

Historical Context

Devva’s Life Course Trajectory

1950 Birth 1960 Adolescence 1970 Graduate School 1980-90 Career 2000 Aging

Access Participation Barriers

Threshold

Threshold

Threshold

Ritual and Spiritual Life

Education and Training

Family and Household Life

Economic Activities

Political Life

Communication

Sexuality

Impairment

Participation Barrier Domains:

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability: The Embodied Political Layers

◄Oppression

◄Discrimination

◄Segregation

◄Exclusion

◄Marginalization

Inclusionary Access Strategies

Access Participation Barriers

Exclusionary Access Strategies

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Cross-Cultural Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability:The Structural-Instrumental

Impairment

Ethno-Embodiment

Disability Handicap

Chronic IllnessPosit Bio-Physics

Exclusionary Access Strategies

Inclusionary Access Strategies

Rules

Access Barriers

Ethnoscience

Embodied Anomaly

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Sociocultural Model of Impairment-Disability in the USA The Structural-Instrumental

Ethno-Embodiment

Disability Handicap

Chronic IllnessPosit Bio-Physics

Policy

Access Barriers

Ethnoscience

Inclusionary Access StrategiesAccommodation

Functional Impairment

Embodied AnomalyCompensation

Exclusionary Access Strategies

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Devva on Fieldwork:◄ Our Fieldwork Map could also be used in literature, history, and even in

technology.

◄ It provides concrete places to start data collection that can help negotiate hidden and stated researcher bias without the DISappearance of disability that occurs in a radical relativistic approach or in a DISmodernism universalizing approach.

Russ on Epistemology and Theoretical Development:◄ In this working model we want to engage our colleagues in a true

interdisciplinary approach not constrained by different epistemological validities.

◄ We want to celebrate the complexity of concepts of impairment-disability because therein lie there staying power.

Closing