Medical Model of Disability - Essay Example

Shift from a medical understanding of disability to social one al affiliation Shift from a medicalunderstanding of disability to social one Introduction A model of disability provides a framework that influences modern thinking amount how to handle people with disabilities. These models include the medical model and the social model. In the medical model, the disabled people are viewed as a problem, and that they need to be helped to adapt to the system. While in the social model, the disabled people are render inoperative, for the reason that, the societal condition and the circumstances caused by people in the society. The social theories are established to give a clear understanding of a given concept within a social political and economical context. Currently, medical model of disability is used by many people use it to view disability. The social model, on the other hand, has been the outcry of many disabled people established to challenge the medical model. It is propagated by the disabled people who feel that their disability is as a result of personal problem and would prefer to keep their disability, and avoid treatment. This paper seeks to discuss the extent to which the social model itself can be viewed as outdated in reference to the shift in medical understanding of disability. The medical model of disability can be said to be a social political model. The model advocates that disability is inborn and is as a result of physical condition found within an individual. This disability can affect an individual emotionally, physically and mentally affecting how the person acts within the society. In this model, the problem is located within the individual (Norwich 2008 pp.54). The model advocates for seeking medical attention for treatment for the impairments or the disabled. The medical intervention provided to people with impairments enables them to fit well within the society without frustrations. The medical model attempts to explain that, the individual disability emanates from clinical conditions and it does not make distinctions between impairments and individual disability (Shakespeare1998 pp.36) In this model, the disabled individuals need to be provided with attention and help to fit in the society, and if this turn out to be problematic the disabled individuals should be taken to institutions that accommodate them while providing services that help them live within the society. The model brings out stereotypes among people who are not disabled influencing their attitudes and perceptions where they see the disabled people with a lot of pity, fear and negative attitudes towards them. The power to help and change the disabled individuals seems to depend on professional medical doctors and nurses. Today many people view the medical model as proposing treatment of disabled people by making them adapted to the society. This in turn, makes them reject the medical model of disabled people. The social model of disability was developed during the nineteenth century by a group of disabled men and women. It was a way of rejecting some of the views of the medical model. According to Barnes and Mercer (2002pp.35), this movement advocated for a different way of looking at disability. It starts by advocating that every disabled child and adult has a right to belong to a community and to be loved by the community members. This model starts by looking at the strengths of an individual and the social barriers that affect the individual. The model distinguishes impairment and disability. Barnes (2002pp.23) describes the social model of disability as the disability movement according to social movement theory. The model shifts itself from the medical model theory, by associating the disability with the society as the main course of the problem making people believe that they are not at fault to disability. Whereas the medical model of disability, states that the problem of disability is within the person alone. The social model also shits its meaning from feeling sorrow from oneself and become passive to the disability problem failing to seek medical attention. The social model has contributed to development of disabled people personality giving them a sense of identity. The social model has been criticized in a number of ways; the model is based on the distinction between an individuals mind and physical features. The societal marginalization leads to oppression of disabled people in the society. Therefore, the problem is with the society and not the disabled individual. The model encourages focuses to the societal and not gazes to the disabled individual. The social model is narrow in that; it mainly focuses on issues of oppression to the disabled individual. Other factors such as race education and how they interact with others in the community are ignored. The changing and contextual factors of disabled people are also ignored. The social model presents disability as dichotomous an individual is either disabled do not disabled. The model fails to differentiate between social responses in mental and physical disabilities. The social model fails to look at the issues of pain and suffering of the disabled people. The model does not put the experiences of disabled people into consideration from which might be a source of pain and suffering in their daily lives (Farrell, 2010pp.11). The social model fails to represent the experience of many disabled people. Rose (2010 pp.31) points out that the proponents of this model were educated white men and middle class males who suffer from late onset disabilities and little needs. The movement fails to consider the group of disable people who do not want to be involved with the movement, and would prefer to be undesirable. Shakespeare & Watson (2001pp.72) in their research found that some of the disabled children do not want to be associated with disability. Just as the feminist movement, the disabled felt that they are independent, and started mobilizing others fighting for equal rights and citizenship, instead of depending of charitable works and good will. The main successes of the social model can be seen as its main weakness, since it turned out to be a movement that could not be challenged. Part of its strength emanated from its simplicity. It was even reduced to a slogan that motivated the disabled people encouraging them that it is the society that affects them (Rose 2010 pp.22). Shakespeare (2006 pp.31) says that with the social model organization could easily be evaluated if they used the medical model or they used the social model. Did the organization focus of disability removal or they focused on medical interventions. Social model was even used to view the world in black and white even if the proponents did not advocate for such. People’s commitment to the social model was based on the Psychological effect it had on the disabled people transforming their self esteem. The concern on medical treatment of disabled makes people see the main causes of disability within the society. Most of the disabilities are caused by wars, hunger, poor sanitation, availability of cheap labor, poor security, child abuse and neglect, which should be discourage rather than just offering medical services to the disabled people (Terzi 2010 pp.41). According to Hodkinson & Vickerman (2009 pp.56) disabled people are made to know that it is their fault they are disabled. If any part, of the body has a default then that is simply impairment and it does not make on less human. Though, most of the people have been made to value the difference in between the disabled and non disabled people in the society. With these, some discrimination emerges that makes some people disabled, understanding this concept the disabled feel encouraged and empowered to fight for their rights. The social model makes a distinct difference between impairment and disability. Impairment refers to the situation where an individual lacks part of the body like limbs or any organ, on the other hand, disability refers to the restrictions, caused by the society that does not take into account individual or peoples’ Impairment (Hodkinson & Vickerman 2009 pp.61). These distinctions are embedded in social constructions. The model states that there are some disabled individuals whose disabilities do not allow them to take part in the societal activities. The individuals with impairments cannot be said to be disabled by their impairments but, they are influenced by the barriers that are within the society which do not consider their needs. These barriers are grouped into three these are; one environmental factors, two economical factors and cultural factors. In the model, the environment disables people by not enabling them to move freely within the society. For instance, a person in a wheel chair is only disabled when the environment does not support movement of the wheelchair. Economically the environment does not provide support to the disabled people. In most of the organization, one would find more able people working than the disabled people. Culturally, people’s attitude does affect the disabled people. The disabled people are seen as abnormal by the able people (Barton 2001 pp.25). Social model can be applied in higher institution of learning. The slow learners are discriminated environmentally cultural and environmentally. The individuals with learning difficulties are normally considered silly and need special assistance. At times, they might not have fit in the learning environment to be in a position learn faster (Barton 2001pp.41). The social model has become a political rhetorical argument that politicizes the issue of disability focusing on disability and not the disabled person. Therefore, the model is criticized on the basis of disability perspective just as the medical model is criticized on the basis of on viewing people as depersonalized patients. Disability in the social model ceases to be the disable person but something that is done to the disabled individual (Armstrong 2010 pp.52). With the development of critical thinking of the model, most critiques noted that the discrimination of disabled people was not tolerated by being compared to the societal oppressions like racism, class and gender. In the social model to be disabled meant to be socially disadvantage as opposed to the physical environment just because the society failed to accommodate them. In this view disability is seen as a social barrier within the disabled people and when indentified getting rid of them should be considered a better option (Armstrong 2010 pp.55). It is difficult to discuss the social model because the term social model can refer to various concepts like it can mean structural and material conditions, or representations of things within the environment. This difference has implications to both political and individual understanding with materialist approach putting more emphasis on structural and institutional barriers while the cultural focuses on disabling attitudes and representations. However, the social model states that the disabled are excluded from the society by the societal barriers (Armstrong 2010pp.59). Barnes (2004pp.19) states that to indicate that something is a social construction, is a times very unrealistic. For instance, simply saying that something is a social construction gives very diminutive information and there is nothing that can be constructed out of social constructions. Therefore the concept of the society influencing the disabled can be questioned and it might end up not true. The social mode does accept that people do have impairments. Though, the experience of disability is what happens when the person comes into contact with the discriminate society that does not take care of their needs. This is questionable and has no basic justifications. The medical practitioners interpret the social model as one that denies the impaired or disabled individuals from seeking medical attention (Barnes 2004 pp.25). According to Barnes (2004pp.27) people should not consider the social model of disability should as a monolithic entity, but rather as a cluster of different ways of understanding the notion of disability. Though, all the common variants of the model is the societal major influences it is therefore the in hospitability of people that lead others into being disabled. The Social model thinking has positive implications all education system for instance, the primary and secondary schools. It is known that negative attitudes towards disabled people are not innate they are acquired from the prejudiced society the disabled people subsist. Armstrong (2010pp.30) notes that, the social model of disability, has major influence on peoples’ undersatnding of how the society looks at ideas, interprets the idesa, develop new knowledge , conduct analysis of issues and conclusions of developed knowledge. The model has made people see that the society makes rules for the disable and impaired people for the access of several services within the community. Like in the medical model an individual would be blamed for not using the services the social model criticizes. The constructors and designers of the available structures use such building books, communication materials among others for not considering the disabled individuals. This way of presenting issues has made many policy makers include in their decision making process ways of eradication prejudice and discrimination against the disabled people in a community. The policy makers use the information to try and improve the social and economic environment that the disabled individuals can fit in without complications (Armstrong 2010 pp.17). The medical model influences the policy makes by shedding some light into the medical profession. The doctors are made aware of the impartial or the disabled individual that requires medical attention. Educational institutes are not left out, they are provided with information that enables them develop infrustructre within the school compound that can accomodate the partial and disabled people. Books authors also write books that can be used by the disabled individual like the blind use of brails. The curriculum developers develop a curriculum that can be used by both disabled and able people without discrimination. It can be seen that the social model of disability has changed the way community members regard disability, and it has lead to a positive impact on how the community view the disabled people. However, some academics and disabled people who take part in the re-evaluation of the social model, argue that there is a need to change and move beyond the social model for disabled people. Shakespeare (2006pp.19) argues that the social model has been used politically to mobilise disable people. This makes the model be inadequate and unless it is modified, political influence will affect the use of the model. The model has actually been influenced by politics and government and this influence has affected policy making within several institutions. He states that the model has become the litmus of political testability. Barners ( 2004pp.28) states that at the political level, the social model has managed to influence decision making of disabled individuals in terms of thier rights and citizenship, but it has failed to look at the individual effects of the disabled people. This simply means that it is no longer the individual that has the mistake. Further more the model advocated for more political assault on the barriers to disabled people. According to Norwich (2008pp.71) the social model has been accused of creating an ‘over-socialized’ understanding of the processes involved in coming up with the disability. It is, they argue, relativist and reductionist. The social model creates a danger of presenting very limited pictures of the experiences of disability. Shakespeare (2006 pp.51) gives a critique of the social model; he says that the model has failed to provide examples of disabled forms of discrimination. It mainly focuses on material of expenses and the sense of rejection by the community members. Conclusion The issue of individual disability should not be studies based on political grounds as presented in the social model of disability or based of sociological or anthologist aspect. The use of the two approaches is very important so as to allow an investigation and analysis of the oppressed disabled people and the experience of living with the impairment. This review suggests that a model should be developed that caters for the needs of impaired and disabled individuals within a community. The model should be one that all the disabled people should get involved with, one that does not discriminate them, and is free from political influence. Bibliography Armstrong, A et al, 31 Jul 2010, The Social History of Inclusion, In SNIE Reader. Barnes, C, and Mercer, G, 15th May,2002, Disability, Cambridge: Polity Press Barnes, C. Et al, 14th September, 2004, Disabling Barriers, enabling environments, London: Sage Barton, L, May, 5th May 2001, Disability, Politics and the Struggle for Change, London: David Fulton Hodkinson, R, &Vickerman, J, 1st August, 2009, The Development of SEN. In SNIE Reader. Norwich, B, 29th October, 2008, Dilemmas of Difference, Inclusion and disability, Oxon: Routledge. Rose, R, 20th November,2010, Confronting obstacles to inclusion. New York: Taylor& Francis. Shakespeare, T, 10th December, 2006, Disability rights and wrongs, Oxon: Routledge. Shakespeare, T, 8th January, 1998, The disability reader,London: Continuum. Terzi,L, 09 May 2010, Justice and equality in education, London, Continuum. Read More