The Social Construction of the Disability Problem

Abstract

So far, it has been suggested that the ideological construction of disability has been determined by the core ideology of capitalism, namely individualism; and that peripheral ideologies associated with medicalisation and underpinned by personal tragedy theory have presented a particular view of the disabled individual. But that is only part of the story, for the category disability has also been constructed as a particular kind of social problem. Hence

We contend that disability definitions are not rationally determined but socially constructed. Despite the objective reality, what becomes a disability is determined by the social meanings individuals attach to particular physical and mental impairments. Certain disabilities become defined as social problems through the successful efforts of powerful groups to market their own self interests. Consequently the so-called ‘objective’ criteria of disability reflects the biases, self-interests, and moral evaluations of those in a position to influence policy. (Albrecht and Levy, 1981, p. 14)