BIE_F_08 “They don’t see the person”: Perspectives of Persons with Disabilities on Social Positions and Cohesion

Objective / Research Questions

Despite its apparent distinctness, the term disability is characterized by a high degree of ambiguity. This is due to, among other things, the inherent heterogeneity of the phenomenon. The term is just as unclear and diffuse as the attribution of the corresponding affectedness, which is, however, carried out in everyday life with the supposed objectivity of an absolute characteristic. According to the United Nations, “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others” (United Nations 2007). The decisive and defining feature of a disability is an impairment at the social level or a limitation of social participation as a possible but not necessary consequence of an impairment. The corresponding conceptual delimitation is, however, highly controversial in its respective discourse, and it is not just due to issues of translation (e.g. for focus on activities and body, see Steinwede/Kersting/Harand /Schröder/Schäfers/Schachler 2018 and United Nations 2007). However, social location and a dimensional understanding of disability are increasing. This comes with the notion of a disability continuum rather than a distinct division between two groups.

For a large part of the population, disability is out of reach, warded off, and associated with inequality – until it becomes part of one’s own reality either through being affected by an impairment or disability oneself or through experiences with people with disabilities (Danz 2011). Suddenly, the restrictions concerning social participation mentioned above become apparent and are experienced in real terms in the form of discrimination (see RISC proposal: ch. 2.7), stigmatization, confrontation with prejudices, processes of social closure, social inequality, and accumulation of disadvantages (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs 2016). The central concern of this empirical-analytical project is to explore the internal perspective of the marginalized, yet omnipresent, group of people with disabilities on social cohesion, as they are outside the focus of society.

• How do people with disabilities experience their own position in society, in relation to society and aspects of social cohesion?
• How do they describe and evaluate their own social participation? How does social cohesion or group membership relate to this?
• What needs are seen for reducing discrimination and strengthening societal cohesion of and with people with disabilities?
   

Thematic reference to social cohesion

Social cohesion is not a matter that the powerful or the majority can impose but an interactive process. Experiences of limited social participation, marginalization, and discrimination, which manifest themselves in the attribution of “people with disabilities”, have a decisive influence on the perception of one’s own social position.

In this way, the view on society is conveyed, and societal cohesion is, or is not, experienced. Depending on the definition, disability affects at least 15 per cent of the German population and is thus more ubiquitous than assumed by those who are not affected (Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs 2016). It can even be considered “a central form of social inequality” (Maschke 2007, 299). Since the Federal Republic of Germany upholds separate structures in the areas of education, work, and so forth, cohesion can be experienced in exclusive areas rather than in general society.

Disparaging attitudes towards people with disabilities belong to the syndrome of group-based misanthropy, ranging from avoidance and overt hostility to passive behaviour of uninvolved individuals. The supposedly absolute and unchangeable characteristics of a disability overshadow other roles and characteristics of the (so ascribed) affected persons, which leads to a stigmatization process that transcends all areas of life (Haubl 2015). A corresponding field of conflict between deviation and normality and between exclusion and belonging is apparent in the politically pushed debate about “inclusion” of whatever kind (Wansing 2015). However, it is often not desired at the micro-level, contrary to what is publicly suggested (Haubl 2015). Contrary to the political agenda, the existing negative attitudes are therefore being strengthened rather than reduced, which intensifies the group antagonism between those affected and those not affected, as well as the debates about, for instance, gender equality or prenatal diagnostics.

Thus, according to the short profile of the Bielefeld section, the conflict is one that manifests itself in behaviours on the micro-level, framed by meso- and macro-structures, and in turn has an impact on them. The non-affected always remain the exclusionary, patronizing, and discursively stronger voice, which contributes to endangering societal cohesion. In this project, through interviews with people with disabilities, we aim not to reproduce the patriarchal, dismissive thinking of the mainstream society that is not affected, but rather to understand and include the group affected by discrimination as an active party. This is precisely where the potential for innovation and the universal claim of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) can be found (United Nations 2007; Wansing 2015).

With the ratification of the CRPD (United Nations 2007), disability mainstreaming, as it has become called, has become a general interest for social development. In addition, the ratifying states commit themselves in Article 31 to collecting appropriate research data that will allow the development of measures to implement the goals of the CRPD. Therefore, it is highly significant to pay attention to the living conditions of persons with disabilities, especially in relation to social cohesion, in order to be able to constructively understand and change it.

Literature

Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (Hrsg.) 2016: Zweiter Teilhabebericht der Bundesregierung über die Lebenslagen von Menschen mit Beeinträchtigungen. TEILHABE – BEEINTRÄCHTIGUNG – BEHINDERUNG, Bonn.

Danz, Simone 2011: Behinderung. Ein Begriff voller Hindernisse, Frankfurt am Main.

Haubl, Rolf 2015: Behindertenfeindlichkeit – narzisstische Abwehr der eigenen Verletzlichkeit, in: Schnell, Irmtraud (Hrsg.): Herausforderung Inklusion. Theoriebildung und Praxis, Bad Heilbrunn, 103-115.

Maschke, Michael 2007: Behinderung als Ungleichheitsphänomen – Herausforderung an Forschung und Praxis, in: Waldschmidt, Anne; Schneider, Werner (Hrsg.): Disability Studies, Kultursoziologie und Soziologie der Behinderung. Erkundungen in einem neuen Forschungsfeld, Bielefeld, 299-320.

Steinwede, Jacob; Kersting, Anne; Harand, Julia; Schröder, Helmut; Schäfers, Markus; Schachler, Viviane 2018: Repräsentativbefragung zur Teilhabe von Menschen mit Behinderungen, 2.  Zwischenbericht, Bonn.

United Nations 2007: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol, New York.

Wansing, Gudrun 2015: Was bedeutet Inklusion? Annäherungen an einen vielschichtigen Begriff, in: Degener, Theresia; Diehl, Elke (Hrsg.): Handbuch Behindertenrechtskonvention. Teilhabe als Menschenrecht – Inklusion als gesellschaftliche Aufgabe, Schriftenreihe / Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, Band 1506, Bonn, 43-54.