Understanding Disability Policies - Hardcover

Drake, Robert F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333724267 ISBN 13: 9780333724262

Publisher: Red Globe Press, 1999

Synopsis

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the development and consequences of disability policies, contrasting policies grounded in medical definitions of disability with a 'social model' of disability supported by disability rights campaigners in their pursuit of anti-discrimination legislation. British policies are set in comparative context, and the impacts of policy on disabled people according to their class, gender, age and ethnicity are explored.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Understanding Disability Policies provides a comprehensive analysis of the development and consequences of disability policies in Britain from Victorian times to the present day. Written in clear and jargon-free English, it is essential reading for students and practitioners in disability studies, sociology, social policy, public administration, health and the voluntary sector.

There are three main sections. First, policies drawn from medical definitions of disability (which have led to the social exclusion of disabled people), are contrasted with a newer 'social model' of disability, which explains the disadvantages faced by disabled people not in terms of their physical or mental impairment, but as resulting from social and environmental barriers.

The second part of the volume evaluates British policies within an international context. In particular, comparisons are made with the civil rights approach adopted in America and Australia, and the welfare-orientated stance of countries like Sweden. Finally, the book traces the impacts of policy on disabled people according to their class, gender, age and ethnicity. The book ends with an assessment of the disability movement and the campaign by disabled people for the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation.

About the Author

ROBERT DRAKE is Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Wales, Swansea, and an associate lecturer with the Open University. He has published research on equal opportunity policies (with Ken Blakemore), disability policy, and the role of the voluntary sector in Britain. Currently, he is researching disability policies within the broader context of the European Union.

Edition details

• Publisher: Red Globe Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0333724267
• ISBN 13: 9780333724262
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256