Abstract
Training for a degree in social work requires direct practice. Practice implies that students get an exposure to a wide variety of settings, interact with diverse groups and engage with different socio-economic realities. This elicits reactions in them which range from conflicts, confusions to emergence of latent biases. This paper explores the reactions of students when they interact with disabled people in field work settings. Goffman talked about ‘discrediting attributes’ and the stigma that disabled people face because of these attributes. In their initial encounters with disabled people and their families, students often find it difficult to look beyond the ‘discrediting attributes’. They either talk about feelings of depression and negativity in relation to the disabled person or they eulogize them. Reactions which range from one end of the continuum to the other are usually unhelpful in working with people. This paper traces the journey of students from initial reactions to disability issues to gradual comprehension of the social model of disability. It attempts to bring out the way in which direct contact with disabled people and their families bring out latent stigmatizing concepts in students. These interactions activate the ideas related to the medical model and also give rise to stigma. This paper also presents the process (supervised field work) through which the same situations which activate the stereotypes and conflicts within students also help in ameliorating them.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Mary Richmond was an American social work pioneer who worked with the Charity Organization Society and major contributions to the field of social work.
References
Aley, R. (2016). An assessment of the social, cultural and institutional factors that contribute to sexual abuse of persons with disabilities in east africa. United Kingdom: Advantage Africa.
Banerjee, G. R. (1964). Papers on social work: An Indian perspective. Tata Institute of Social Sciences: Mumbai.
Berlin, S. (2005). The value of acceptance in social work direct practice: A historical and contemporary view. Social Service Review, 79(3), 482–510.
Berlin, S. B., & Johnson, C. B. (1989). Women and autonomy: Using structural analysis of social behaviour to find autonomy within connections. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 52(1), 79–95.
Bernstein, R. J. (1992). The new constellation: The ethical-political horizons of modernity/postmodernity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Campbell, F. (2009). Contours of ableism: The production of disability and abledness. UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Corcoran, J. (2018). Direct practice in social work. Retrieved May 5, 2019, from Oxford Bibliographies. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195389678.
Dave, A., Raghavan, V., & Solanki, D. (2012). Centrality of field action in social work education: A case for socio-legal work. Social Change, 42(4), 451–466.
Devi, Rameshwari, & Prakash, Ravi. (2001). Social work practices. Jaipur: Mangal Deep Publications.
Dibra, G., Osmanaga, F., & Bushati, J. (2013). Student’s attitudes towards disability. European Scientific Journal, 9(31), 214–224. Retrieved May 10, 2019, from http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/2059/1970.
Ditchman, N., Kosyluk, K., Lee, E.-J., & Jones, N. (2016). How stigma affects the lives of people with intelluctual disabilities: An overview. In K. Scior & S. Werner (Eds.), Intellectual disability and stigma: Stepping out of the margins (pp. 31–47). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fine, M., & Asch, A. (1988). Disability beyond stigma: social interaction, discrimination and activism. Journal of Social Issues, 44(1), 3–22.
Finn, J. L., & Jacobson, M. (2003). Just practice: A social justice approach to social work. Peosta, IA: Eddie Bowers.
Garrett, A. M. (1942). Interviewing: Its principles and methods. New York: Family Welfare Association of America.
Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of a spoiled identity. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Goodley, D. (2017). Dis/entangling critical disability studies. In H.B. Anne Waldschmidt (Ed.), Culture – theory – disability (pp. 82–97). Transcript Verlag.
Gore, M. S. (1966). Social work and social work education. New York: Asia Publishing House.
Gronfein, W. (1999). Sundered selves: Mental illness and the interaction order in the work of Erving Goffman. In G. Smith (Ed.), Goffman and social organization studies in sociological legacy (pp. 87–112). London: Routledge.
International Federation of Social Workers. (2014). Global definition of social work. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from International Federation of Social Workers: https://www.ifsw.org/what-is-social-work/global-definition-of-social-work/.
Kadushin, A. (2014). Supervision in social work. New York: Columbia University Press.
Lawani, B. T. (2009). Social work education and field instructions. Agra: Current Publications.
Link, B., & Phelan, J. (2001). Conceptualizing stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 363–385.
Lucas, J., & Phelan, C. Jo. (2012). Stigma and status. Social Psychology Quarterly., 75(4), 310–333.
Lutz, B., & Bowers, B. (2005). Disability in everyday life. Qualitative Heath Reasearch, 15(8), 1037–1054.
Marks, D. (1991). Disability: Controversial debates and psychosocial perspectives. Print: Routledge.
Mostert, M. (2016). Stigma as a barrier to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights. African Disability Rights Yearbook, 2–24. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from African Disability Rights Yearbook: http://www.adry.up.ac.za/images/adry/volume4_2016/adry_2016_4_chapter1.pdf.
Patel, M., & Rose, J. (2014). Students’ attitudes towards individuals with an intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 18(1), 90–103. Retrieved March 22, 2014, from http://jid.sagepub.com/content/18/1/90.
Parnes, P., Hashemi, G., Njelesani, D. N., Richard, D., Cameron, C., & Keachie, H. (2013). Outside the circle—A research initiative by plan international into the rights of children with disabilities to education and protection in West Africa. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from Plan International: https://planinternational.org/publications/outside-circle#download-options.
Pierce, D. (1989). Social work and society: An introduction. New York: Longman.
Roy, S. (2017). Field work practice in correctional setting: Indian social work perspectives. Global Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2(1), 001–008.
Scior, K. (2016). Towards understanding intellectual disability stigma: Introduction. In K. Scior & S. Werner (Eds.), Intellectual disability and stigma: Stepping out from the margins (pp. 3–13). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sennett, Richard. (2003). Respect in a world of inequality. New York: W. W. Norton.
Weick, A., & Pope, L. (1988). Knowing what’s best: A new look at self-determination. Social Casework, 69(1), 10–16.
Westbrook, M., Barbara, A. B., & Westbrook, J. I. (1988). Health science student’s images of disabled people. Community Health Studies, 12, 304–313.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nayar, M. (2020). ‘Encounters’ with Disabled People: Concerns from Field Work Settings. In: Mehrotra, N. (eds) Disability Studies in India . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2616-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2616-9_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-2615-2
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-2616-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)