Anthropology of Disability

AN ETHNOGRAPHIC ACCOUNT OF THE ROLE ETHICS PLAYS AT ACCESS UNLIMITED HEALTH SERVICES AND THE ETHICAL DELIMMAS FACED IN MY COLLEGUES AND MY OWN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AS A RESIDENTIAL DISABILITIES SUPPORT WORKER

by alexis stergakis

Australian Centre for Human Rights Education - RMIT University

The ethnographic account described below is a result of several months of participant observation within a residential... more The ethnographic account described below is a result of several months of participant observation within a residential care setting from August 2008 – January 2009. The research addresses one key critical incident. I carried a select range of research techniques including; interviews with key consultants (Clinical Co-ordinator), examination of, and reflection on the culture of the organisation through conversations with staff and personal reflection.

The critical incident and research is intended to examine what role ethics plays in the daily care of the client. Further I will explore the ethical dilemmas faced by staff and the effect the community of practice has on the application of care to the client. In examining the ethical dilemma that arises between client rights and carer service delivery, the impact of the infringement of the client’s rights will be explored.

Critically Engaging Disability Studies and Anthropological Research on Impairment-Disability

by Russell Shuttleworth

by Russell Shuttleworth and Devva Kasnitz

This essay, an abbreviated version which I presented at Monash University in 2006, was supposed to be the introduction to a planned book and then a special issue of a journal, "Engaging Anthropology and Disability Studies in Interdisciplinary Dialogue". However, disagreements with editors and politics throughout the first five or so years of the millenium prevented the project from coming to fruition. As it stands, the essay is perhaps the culmination of the work that Kasnitz and I did on conceptualizing an anthropology of impairment-disability. Aside from a few grammatical edits, I have left it as written. So if referencing this piece, please cite it as appears on the title page, that is, as a presentation at Monash from 2006. Also, this essay discusses the various papers that were to be included in the book/special issue. Many of these papers have been published elsewhere, but contact the author if you need assistance in tracking down their work.

Anthropology and Disability Studies

by Russell Shuttleworth

(2001) Kasnitz, D., and Shuttleworth, R. Anthropology and Disability Studies. In Semiotics and Dis/ability: Interrogating the Categories of Difference. Beth Swadener and Linda Rogers, Editors. New York: SUNY Press.

The Pursuit of Sexual Intimacy for Men with Cerebral Palsy (PhD dissertation 2000)

by Russell Shuttleworth

Shuttleworth, R 2000 The Pursuit of Sexual Intimacy for Men with Cerebral Palsy. Doctoral dissertation in Medical Anthropology, University of San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley, 346 pp.

Exploring Multiple Roles and Allegiances in Ethnographic Process in Disability Culture

by Russell Shuttleworth

Engaging Anthropology in Disability Studies

by Russell Shuttleworth

Kasnitz, D., and Shuttleworth, R. Engaging Anthropology in Disability Studies. Position Paper in Disability Studies. Oakland: World Institute on Disability (1999)

Anthropology in Disability Studies

by Russell Shuttleworth

(2001) Kasnitz, D., and Shuttleworth, R. (Guest Editors), Introduction to the Special Issue: Anthropology in Disability Studies. Disability Studies Quarterly 21(3): 2-17.

Stigma, Community, Ethnography: Joan Ablon's Contribution to the Anthropology of Impairment‐Disability

by Russell Shuttleworth

Shuttleworth, R., and Kasnitz, D. (2004) Stigma, Community, and Ethnography: Joan Ablon’s Contribution to the Anthropology of Impairment-Disability. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 18(2): 139-161.

The Cultural Context of Disability.

by Russell Shuttleworth

Shuttleworth, R., and Kasnitz, D. The Cultural Context of Disability. In Encyclopedia of Disability. Gary Albrecht, Editor. Thousand Oaks: Sage (2006)

Disability/Difference

by Russell Shuttleworth

(2004) Shuttleworth, R. Disability/Difference. In Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World’s Cultures. Carol Ember and Melvin Ember, eds. Kluwer/Plenum. (proof version)

Singolarità e universalità nel linguaggio dei diritti umani

by Elena Colombetti

Published in:
A.Pessina (ed), Paradoxa. Etica della condizione umana, Vita e Pensiero,Milano 2010

Toward Engagement: Exploring the Prospects for an Integrated Anthropology of Disability

by Heather Battles

Published in vis-à-vis: Explorations in Anthropology, the graduate student journal of the Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto.

Impairment and disability are fundamental human experiences across cultures, yet disability remains curiously... more Impairment and disability are fundamental human experiences across cultures, yet disability remains curiously under-studied and under-theorized within anthropology, particularly within physical anthropology and archaeology. Why is this the case and how might this change? This paper critically examines anthropology’s varying detachment from and engagement with disability studies up to the present. It is suggested that a holistic approach which integrates data and insights from archaeology, physical anthropology, and sociocultural anthropology would offer the means for an important and distinctly anthropological contribution to the study of disability in the past and present. Direction is taken from previous anthropological work on women/gender and Indigenous peoples, particularly the use of a political-economic approach. It is argued that a focus on theoretically-situated bodies, increased inclusion of people with disabilities, and a demonstrated relevance to current disability issues will be essential aspects of an integrated anthropology of disability.

Graciosi: Medieval and Early Modern Attitudes to Disability

by Carole Cusack

Disability and Rehabilitation, Vol. 19, No. 10, October 1997, pp. 414-9.

To modern people, ‘dis-ability’ implies a lack or an incompleteness on the part of the person so labelled when judged... more To modern people, ‘dis-ability’ implies a lack or an incompleteness on the part of the person so labelled when judged by the standard of the ‘complete’ person. For a large section of medieval society this was not the case: the ‘disabled’ were seen to possess special gifts that were indicative of privileged status as recipients of God’s grace. There are difficulties and contradictions inherent in positing a single ‘medieval’ view on any subject, which will be addressed throughout this paper. However, in one influential discourse, to be physically perfect was to be susceptible to the sins of the flesh, chief among which was concupiscence or lust. One of the ambiguities of medieval theological attitudes to illness (or disability) is that it was simultaneously believed that illness (or disability) was both a sign of God’s displeasure and a mark of his grace.

Body and soul: disease and impairment in Anglo-Saxon England'.

by Christina Lee

In: CLEGG-HYER, MAREN AND G. OWEN-CROCKER, ed. Daily Living in Anglo-Saxon England. Exeter UP, pp. 293-309

Go Ahead and Look: Dancers with Disabilities Invite Your Gaze

by Deborah Greenhut

A brief look at the multifaceted world of dancers with disabilities.

Integrated dance companies turn stereotypes about abilities on their heads.



Performing... more Integrated dance companies turn stereotypes about abilities on their heads.



Performing arts companies have approached the integration of differently abled dancers in a range of ways. It is increasingly clear, as Theodore Bale wrote in Dance Magazine (2009), that the term "disabled dancer is an oxymoron."

QUESTIONING THE NOTION OF A “DECENT WORK” AS A RIGHT IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE DISABLED PEOPLE

by Serhat Ozgokceler

Işığıçok, Ö. & Özgökçeler, S. (2011). "Özürlü İstihdamında Bir Hak Olarak 'İnsan Yakışır İş'i Sorgulamak", İş Dünyası ve Hukuk [Prof. Dr. Tankut Centel'e Armağan], İstanbul: İstanbul Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Yayınları, No: 5006/720, ss. 270-99.

Özürlüler Kanunu'nun Sosyal Model Açısından Değerlendirilmesi

by Serhat Ozgokceler

The medical model as a trouble approach in disability literature characterizes disabled status to be “amenable to... more The medical model as a trouble approach in disability literature characterizes disabled status to be “amenable to treatment, capable of improvement or illness”. The main viewpoint of the model is to assess people with disabilities who are unwell / sick. The new –social- model has described disability as a result of community’s affirmative-reaction since the 1950’s and 1960’s. In this context a person with a disability is exposed to biased opinions of other people or society. Therefore the social model focuses on the problematic exclusive reactions against people with disabilities. Turkey has taken a keen interest in social policy applications and legal regulation(s) for people with disabilities since the second half of the 1990’s, for instance, forming the Administration of Disabled People (1997), holding the 1st National Disabled People’s Council (1999), and introducing the Turkish Disability Act (2005). The purpose of this study is to determine implications of the social model approach for the Turkish Disability Act. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that the Act has a synthesis–approach.

Keywords: People with disabilities, Medical model, Social model, Disability rights movement, Social rights of people with disabilities

Özürlülerin Sosyal Dışlanma Boyutları: Bursa ve Çanakkale Örneklerinden Yansıyanlar

by Serhat Ozgokceler

A CONCEPTIONAL EXAMINATION OF URBAN POVERTY: UNDER–CLASS OR GHETTO POVERTY?

by Serhat Ozgokceler

Social Exclusion & Romanies in Working Life

by Serhat Ozgokceler