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Social Acceptance and Attitude Change

Fifty Years of Research

  • Chapter
Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Part of the book series: Issues on Clinical Child Psychology ((ICCP))

Abstract

Fifty years ago, people with intellectual disability (ID) were “out of the sight and mind of the general public” (Perske, 2003). Little attention was given to this group in popular culture or in scientific research. However, following on the heels of the civil rights movement, and with strong parent advocacy, the doors of the public arena began to open to this once isolated group. Previously, few would have imagined that children with ID would be going to their neighborhood school and sitting in regular classrooms with their peers, or that adults with ID would be working next to their fellow, nondisabled employees. As the movement toward inclusion gained momentum, research in the field of ID began to focus on societal attitudes that act as implicit and often explicit barriers to success. In fact, over the past 50 years, well over 500 studies have been carried out to examine the attitudes of children, teachers, service providers, employers, and the general pubic toward people with ID. Given that the inclusion movement has been most evident in the schools, researchers have focused most of their attention on children and teachers. Therefore, this chapter will provide a review of research that specifically addresses the attitudes of children and teachers toward children with ID and the interventions designed to influence those attitudes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Social Development and Education, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, 02125

    Gary N. Siperstein, Jennifer Norins & Amanda Mohler

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  1. Gary N. Siperstein
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  2. Jennifer Norins
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  3. Amanda Mohler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Albany, New York

    John W. Jacobson

  2. Department of Pediatrics and Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43205, USA

    James A. Mulick

  3. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Johannes Rojahn

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Siperstein, G.N., Norins, J., Mohler, A. (2007). Social Acceptance and Attitude Change. In: Jacobson, J.W., Mulick, J.A., Rojahn, J. (eds) Handbook of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Issues on Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-32931-5_7

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