Changing Social Attitudes - Essay Example

Changing Social Attitudes: Topic of Changing Social Attitudes: Topic Individuals suffering from disabilities or chronic illnesses are often seen as receiving negative attitudes from the society. Different stereotypical perspectives of people contribute to the inferior views regarding them. In this paper, the core focus will be flashed upon the social, cultural and political attitudes or values that impact the experience of individuals with a disability or chronic illness. Societal expectations towards people to be perfectly upright with no body, aesthetic, or appearance deficiencies leads to the cultivation of negative attitudes for these mentally or physically deprived individuals (Hanoch, 1982).

Establishment of norms against these socially and economically uncompetitive people stimulates stereotypical views toward them (Hanoch, 1982). Hence, they are delineated from the society and given an inferior status as opposed to others. These individuals are, thus, viewed as ‘outsiders’, ‘inferiors’ or ‘offenders’ by the society (Hanoch, 1982). Society, due to their less contribution economically or socially, places them in a much lower status or position. Societies expect these individuals to be mourning about their deficiencies or to be showing grievances about their loss and thus, protect or value their own ‘normal’ functioning bodies (Hanoch, 1982).

Often people over-generalize their disabilities as well; an effect known as ‘spread phenomenon’ (Hanoch, 1982). For instance, relating their physical disability with other unrelated characteristics, such as mental-retardness or emotional instability. Any individual found with such disability is immediately advised by the societies or by non-disabled people to go for rehabilitation, control or punishment programs, health or care departments, or psychological departments. Non-disabled people fear close interactions or associations with these individuals as well, so as to avoid any doubts or pointing fingers about their normalness; sometimes because of the guilt of ‘able-bodied’, the ‘deprived-bodies’ are avoided (Hanoch, 1982).

Hence, these individuals are seen to be avoided or neglected. Societies view these disabled persons as individuals getting punished by the God for the sins they committed or their ancestors committed. People, thus, regard their disability as ‘a punishment for sin’ (Hanoch, 1982). They have this concept that they did something really sinful, and now they are being punished. Hence, people fear these individuals as they take them as wrong-doers, sinful individuals, or evil people. Non-disabled people who also have misdeed records, thus, avoid these individuals because of the guilt of not being punished at the same record or people avoid them simply because of the fear of ‘imminent punishment’ by association with them (Hanoch, 1982).

Culturally, people have some cultural conditioned responses or attitudes toward these individuals. People across the cultures are found to have feelings of aversion or repulsion at a mere sight of a disabled person (Hanoch, 1982). Parents or guardians also transfer these views and norms to their children at their early learning stages (Hanoch, 1982), thus rearing their children to have a typical negative stereotypical attitude towards people with disabilities or chronic illness. People tend to believe that close associations or contacts with these disabled people may result in a feeling of reversion or a fear of losing one’s own body part or function.

Disability is considered widely as a death of a body part, and that it triggers emotions of death within the disabled individuals (Hanoch, 1982). Differing demographics among the non-disabled people also affect our attitudes toward the disabled individuals (Hanoch, 1982). Disability awareness or sensitivity training must be undertaken to spread awareness amongst the people of some of the wrong perspectives or norms established against these individuals, and to improve attitudes set against them or to make these individuals more contributing as a work force in the society (Brostrand, 2006).

This will create more employment opportunities and chances for these individuals. Hence, people will avoid negative conceptions and stereotype views against these individuals, and people will be more acceptable. Companies or organizations should be established with policies that hire these disabled individuals (Brostrand, 2006). Through education, training, and rehabilitation, these individuals can be made an important part of the workforce and employment relationship will tend to improve. State or federal vocational rehabilitation programs should be carried out more in future to increase the employment rates of these individuals (Brostrand, 2006), as well as ‘Tilting at Windmills’ (an employer-focused training program) should be directed upon the employers to fade out negative attitudes, misconceptions, or wrong perspectives for these individuals (Brostrand, 2006).

Overall, it can be said that numerous cases and aspects of negative attitudes mentioned in the paper should be rejected, and in their place, corrective steps should be undertaken which shall not only improve the conditions of the deprived people but, also, the conditions of the society as a whole. References List Brostrand, H. L. (2006). Tilting at Windmills: Changing Attitudes Toward People with Disabilities. Journal of Rehabilitation , 4-9. Hanoch, L. (1982). On the Origins of Negative Attitudes toward People with Disabilities.

Rehabilitation Literature, (Attitudes) . Moore, T. J., & Crimando, W. (1995). Attitudes toward Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Rehabilitation Counselling Bulletin , 232-248.