| Abstract: | Jackman (1983) states that the predominant perspective in America on persons with disabilities is to view them as flawed individuals who need to be rehabilitated in order to be made as normal as possible. Because people with disabilities cannot do some of those things done by people without disabilities, they are seen as incompetent, helpless, unproductive, and dependent on others for care. If individuals with disabilities are to improve their status, it is necessary for them to rely on those who can help them accommodate to their disabilities. An alternative conception is to view individuals with disabilities as members of a minority group who lack power and are denied their civil rights. From this perspective, persons with disabilities face problems stemming from a society that stigmatizes and devalues those who are different. Many psychologists could be contributing to knowledge on and service to people with handicaps from both perspectives, but most view such activities as a narrow area of specialization outside the mainstream. The articles in this forum discuss the relationship among psychological knowledge, issues relating to those with disabilities, and public policy primarily from the civil rights perspective. It is hoped that the civil rights perspective can be added to the dominant rehabilitation viewpoint within psychology, attract a greater following within psychology, and produce a psychology of disability that can speak more forcefully to issues of disability and public policy. The six articles in this forum suggest that issues of disability need not remain narrowly segmented within psychology and nearly invisible to most of the discipline. Through greater attention by a broader segment of psychology and attention to the civil rights as well as the rehabilitation perspective, more enlightened public policies on issues of disability can emerge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
