CARE-BOUND : A STUDY OF A HOME FOR THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED

Abstract

Disability studies has continually emphasised the oppression and dehumanisation of the disabled individual in their daily interactions with wider society. Dominant concepts of stigma and deviance have been employed in understanding the experience of disability. It has been argued, however, that these concepts are limited. [In the context of the Home, it offers little to understand the experience of disability. Undertaking participant observation in the Home, I present my understanding of the experience of disability in the Home. The occurrence of a suicide attempt was important in disrupting the social order and enabling me to examine the strategies used to put that back in place. In this study, I have examined the wider societal context in which the Home is embedded. Arguing for a rights-based approach to social services, I have thus also examined the experience of disability as oppression in wider society.