Goodley, D. and Runswick Cole, K. (2011) The violence of disablism. Sociology of Health & Illness, 33 (4). pp. 602-617. ISSN 0141-9889
Abstract
This article addresses the multi-faceted nature of violence in the lives of disabled people, with a specific focus on the accounts of disabled children and their families. Traditionally, when violence and disability have been considered together, this has emphasised the disabled subject whom inevitably exhibits violent challenging behaviour. Recently, however, more attention has been paid to violence experienced by disabled people, most notably in relation to hate crime. This article embraces theories that do not put the problems of disablism or violence back onto disabled people but magnify and expose processes of disablism that are produced in the relationships between people, which sometimes involve violence. This, we argue, means taking seriously the role of social relationships, institutions and culture in the constitution of violence. Disabled children, we argue, are enculturated by the violence of disablism. We follow Zˇ izˇ ek’s advice to step back from the obvious signals of violence to ‘perceive the contours of the background which generates such outbursts’, and identify four elements of the violence of disablism which we define as real, psychoemotional, systemic and cultural. We come to the conclusion that violence experienced by disabled children and their families says more about the dominant culture of disablism than it does of the acts of a few seemingly irrational, unreasonable, mean or violent individuals. We conclude that there is a need for extensive cultural deconstruction and reformation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2011 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2011 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Sociology of Health & Illness. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | violence; disablism; children; culture |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2016 17:12 |
Last Modified: | 22 Mar 2018 16:24 |
Published Version: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01302.... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2010.01302.x |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:94278 |