Disability and Disability Culture

Abstract

Social work has a rich history in working for the rights of people in society. The profession’s commitment to vulnerable and oppressed people and groups are codified in national and international ethical standards. Social justice and respecting the dignity and worth of people are core ethical principles. Social workers’ ethical responsibilities to clients include self-determination, cultural competence, and respect for diversity. Social workers have been at the forefront of social causes to improve the lives of individuals and groups as evidenced by the high regard that one of the profession’s founders, Jane Addams, a 1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work on behalf of women, immigrants to the United States, peace activities, and involvement in the early years of the NAACP and ACLU. Addams’s work reflected her commitment to empowering diverse groups. She recognized that women, ethnic minorities, immigrants, and others were disadvantaged by society and not because of individual failings. Addams was an icon of human rights and valuing diversity, yet she was deeply ashamed of her disabilities. She deeply admired her father and recounts how she, “prayed with all my heart that the ugly, pigeon-toed little girl whose crooked back obliged her to walk with her head held very much to one side, would never be pointed out. . . as the daughter of this fine man,” lest she bring shame to him by his being associated with his “ugly duckling” daughter (Twenty years at hull house. Addams Publications, 1910. p. 3). Social work histories on Addams contain scant information and discussion about her disabilities. Had Addams lived today, she would have access to disabled role models and mentors within the disability community. And given her commitment to social justice, she would certainly be a disability rights advocate because she would have community and a context to operate in. This contribution to the social work body of literature elucidates a diversity approach to disability that includes disability pride, disability culture, and the contributions of disabled people in society. It builds on the literature such as the Oxford Bibliographies contribution of Rankin and colleagues (2015) in Social Work “Disabilities” that provides information for social workers to work with disabled people who are vulnerable and oppressed because of individual or social pathologies. It offers an alternative diversity-and-strengths-based definition of disability and disabled people in contrast to a “social problems” perspective. It provides resources in two broad-ranging areas of focus to help readers understand disability and disabled people as contributors to the diverse tapestry of society. The first entails academic and activist work in disability studies and the disability rights movement. The second includes cultural and artistic products constructed by disabled people that speak to disability as a socially organized phenomenon as well as a lived experience.