Grouped around four central themes – illness and impairment, disabling processes, care and control, and communication and representations – this collection offers a fresh perspective on disability research, showing how theory and data can be brought together in new and exciting ways. Disability Research Today starts by showing how engaging with issues around illness and impairment is vital to a multidisciplinary understanding of disability as a social process. The second section explores factors that affect disabled people, such as homelessness, violence and unemployment. The third section turns to social care, and how disabled people are prevented from living with independence and dignity. Finally, the last section examines how different imagery and technology impacts our understandings of disability and deafness. Showcasing empirical work from a range of countries, including Japan, Norway, Italy, Australia, India, the UK, Turkey, Finland and Iceland, this collection shows how disability studies can be simultaneously sophisticated, accessible and policy-relevant. Disability Research Today is suitable for students and researchers in disability studies, sociology, social policy, social work, nursing and health studies.

Social Research and Disability argues that the contemporary rules of sociological methods outlined in numerous research methods texts make a number of assumptions concerning the researcher including ambulance, sight, hearing and speech. In short, the disabled researcher is not considered when outlining the requirements of particular methods. Drawing upon these considerations, the volume emphasizes how disabled researchers negotiate the empirical process, in light of disability, whilst retaining the scientific rigour of the method. It also considers the negative consequences arising from disabled researchers’ attempts at "passing" and the benefits that can emerge from a reflexive approach to method. This innovative and original text will, for the first time, bring together research-active academics, who identify as being disabled, to consider experiences of being disabled within a largely ableist academy, as well as strategies employed and issues faced when conducting empirical research. The driving force of this volume is to provide the blueprints for bringing how we conduct social research to the same standards and vision as how the social world is understood: multi-faceted and intersectional. To this end, this edited collection advocates for a sociological future that values the presence of disabled researchers and normalises research methods that are inclusive and accessible. The interdisciplinary focus of Social Research and Disability offers a uniquely broad primary market. This volume will be of interest not only to the student market, but also to established academics within the social sciences.

This comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection, examines disability from a theoretical perspective, challenging views of disability that dominate mainstream thinking. Throughout, social theories of disability intersect with ideas associated with sex/gender, race/ethnicity, class and nation.

Disability is often described in a way that suggests it is a permanent, relatively stable state. This volume argues that the relationship between impairment (physical state) and disability is neither fixed nor permanent but is fluid and not easily predicted.

"Wherever we live or whatever we do, disability will always be part of us, whether we want to know it or not. With increasing age, we will all surely encounter disability. It can be age or it can be outside forces that will result in disability, like for example a traffic accident. It is estimated that more than a billion people or about 15% of the population in the world live with some form of disability. Disability research is therefore important not only for the individual or the family, but certainly also for the society that has to adapt and facilitate an easier life and better service for this segment of our population. For example, research from the United States found significant disparities in the prevalence of disability between urban and rural residents with rural residents having the highest prevalence of disability. Such epidemiology and survey research can be important tools for public health focus and intervention and can guide policy makers to allocate budgets and service facilities and expertise. In this book we have gathered some recent disability research from various places around the world that we hope will be of interest to the reader"--

Over the last thirty years, the field of disability studies has emerged from the political activism of disabled people. In this challenging review of the field, leading disability academic and activist Tom Shakespeare argues that the social model theory has reached a dead end. Drawing on a critical realist perspective, Shakespeare promotes a pluralist, engaged and nuanced approach to disability. Key topics discussed include: dichotomies - the dangerous polarizations of medical model versus social model, impairment versus disability and disabled people versus non-disabled people identity - the drawbacks of the disability movement's emphasis on identity politics bioethics in disability - choices at the beginning and end of life and in the field of genetic and stem cell therapies care and social relationships - questions of intimacy and friendship. This stimulating and accessible book challenges orthodoxies in British disability studies, promoting a new conceptualization of disability and fresh research agenda. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and students in disability studies and sociology, as well as professionals, policy makers and activists.

The first comprehensive volume to integrate social-scientific literature on the origins and manifestations of prejudice against disabled people Ableism, prejudice against disabled people stereotyped as incompetent and dependent, can elicit a range of reactions that include fear, contempt, pity, and inspiration. Current literature—often narrowly focused on a specific aspect of the subject or limited in scope to psychoanalytic tradition—fails to examine the many origins and manifestations of ableism. Filling a significant gap in the field, Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice is the first work to synthesize classic and contemporary studies on the evolutionary, ideological, and cognitive-emotional sources of ableism. This comprehensive volume examines new manifestations of ableism, summarizes the state of research on disability prejudice, and explores real-world personal accounts and interventions to illustrate the various forms and impacts of ableism. This important contribution to the field combines evidence from multiple theoretical perspectives, including published and unpublished work from both disabled and nondisabled constituents, on the causes, consequences, and elimination of disability prejudice. Each chapter places findings in the context of contemporary theories—identifying methodological limits and suggesting alternative interpretations. Topics include the evolutionary and existential origins of disability prejudice, cultural and impairment-specific stereotypes, interventions to reduce prejudice, and how to effect social change through collective action and advocacy. Adopting a holistic approach to the study of disability prejudice, this accessibly-written volume: Provides an inclusive, up-to-date exploration of the origins and expressions of ableism Addresses how to resist ableist practices, prioritize accessible policies, and create more equitable social relations with pages earmarked for activists and allies Focuses on interpersonal and intergroup analysis from a social-psychological perspective Integrates research from multiple disciplines to illustrate critical cognitive, affective and behavioral mechanisms and manifestations of ableism Suggests future research directions based on topics covered in each chapter Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice is an important resource for social, community and rehabilitation psychologists, scholars and researchers of disability studies, and students, activists, and academics across political, sociological, and humanistic disciplines. “This book is an excellent resource for both members of the academic field and lay readers seeking to know more about disability prejudice and ways to address it.” ~ Charlotte Schreyer, Syracuse University, Published on H-Disability (September 2022)

Disability and Social Representations Theory provides theoretical and methodological knowledge to uncover the public perception of disabilities. Over the last decade there has been a significant shift from body to environment, and the relation between the two, when understanding the phenomenon of disabilities. The current trend is to view disabilities as the outcome of this interaction; in short from a biopsychosocial perspective. This has called for research based on frameworks that incorporate both the body and the environment. There is a great corpus of knowledge of the functions of a body, and a growing corpus of environmental factors such as perceptions among specific groups of persons towards disabilities. However, there is a lack of knowledge of the perception of disabilities from a general population. This book offers an insight into how we can broaden our understanding of disability by using Social Representations Theory, with specific examples from studies on hearing loss. The authors highlight that attitudes and actions are outcomes of a more fundamental disposition (i.e., social representation) towards a phenomenon like disability. This book is written assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of Social Representations Theory. It will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in the fields of disability studies, health and social care, and sociology.

The act of life is a lived experience, common and unique, that ties each of us to every other lived experience. The fact of disability does not alter this fundamental truth. In this edition of Rethinking Disability: World Perspectives in Culture and Society, we are presented with a system of thinking that considers the values of disability, as a resource, as a creative source of culture that moves disability out of the realm of victimized people and insurmountable barriers, and provides opportunities to use the experience of disability to enter into networks that recognize strengths of differing abilities. The authors within will intrigue you, will move you, will charm you, but always will challenge your notion of sameness and difference as they confront the construct and (de)construct of disability and ableism. They present compelling arguments for viewing disABILITY through the multiple lenses of disability culture. They explore themes and issues that transcend past and origins, time and place, nuances of genetics, to experiences of present and becoming, and towards the future and beyond mere human, yet always intrinsically connected to being human. This book is intended for all audiences who dare to confront difference and sameness within themselves and in connection with others; to inspire researchers who wish to explore, and examine disability across social, cultural and economic barriers. It is an invitation to push away the barriers, bring ableism inside to a place where the prosthesis is no longer the elephant in the room.

The study of disability has traditionally been influenced mainly by medical and psychological models. The aim of this new text, Disability and Society, is to open up the debate by introducing alternative perspectives reflecting the increasing sociological interest in this important topic. Disability and Society brings together for the first time some of the most recent original research in this rapidly expanding area. The contributors, both disabled and non-disabled, are all leading thinkers in their field and suggest new ways of understanding disability, developing policy and challenging current practice.