Epistemology Of Disability
Replacing the Social Model: An Endorsement of the Ecological Model of Disability
I. An Unwarranted Epistemology of Disability: The Medical Model
As aforementioned, this research argues that society perceives disabilities as something that is negative which is unwarranted and cruel. Here I articulate that an important source of that stigma attached to people with disabilities comes from the medical model (MM). In other words, I claim that the MM structures many negative societal perceptions of disability. I begin by describing the MM. Next, I articulate Foucault’s concept of power/knowledge. The point of using Foucault’s concept is to reveal that some of these negative notions of disability stem from relations of power in which, the MM …show more content…
This model view disability in terms of abnormality and personal tragedy (6). It divorces impairment from social life and treats disability as if it is a problem for the individual that requires a fix or a cure (12). ). Additionally, people with disabilities will at some point become dependent on medical professionals or technologies so that they can come closer to species typical functioning (Sullivan, 2011). Disability is considered as something that can reduce quality of life and well-being (ibid). Furthermore, if a person with an incurable impairment faces a significant reduction in quality of life or well-being, then it would be considered acceptable to euthanize this individual (ibid). However, the key component of the MM is, as aforementioned: disability is located within the individual and is created by cognitive, physical, or sensory defects or abnormalities that hinder species typical …show more content…
Foucault’s concept aims to reveal the phenomena of knowledge itself (Foucault 1976, 83). Foucault argues that knowledge is generated or constructed within regimes of power and is distributed as a tool of power (O’Farrell 2005, 105). In other words, all knowledge is dependent upon networks of power where the exercise of such power produces or generates knowledge—to have power is to have the ability to create knowledge, otherwise known as truths. This concept is salient in revealing how the MM deploys knowledge that we unequivocally understand as “biological realities” or
I. An Unwarranted Epistemology of Disability: The Medical Model
As aforementioned, this research argues that society perceives disabilities as something that is negative which is unwarranted and cruel. Here I articulate that an important source of that stigma attached to people with disabilities comes from the medical model (MM). In other words, I claim that the MM structures many negative societal perceptions of disability. I begin by describing the MM. Next, I articulate Foucault’s concept of power/knowledge. The point of using Foucault’s concept is to reveal that some of these negative notions of disability stem from relations of power in which, the MM …show more content…
This model view disability in terms of abnormality and personal tragedy (6). It divorces impairment from social life and treats disability as if it is a problem for the individual that requires a fix or a cure (12). ). Additionally, people with disabilities will at some point become dependent on medical professionals or technologies so that they can come closer to species typical functioning (Sullivan, 2011). Disability is considered as something that can reduce quality of life and well-being (ibid). Furthermore, if a person with an incurable impairment faces a significant reduction in quality of life or well-being, then it would be considered acceptable to euthanize this individual (ibid). However, the key component of the MM is, as aforementioned: disability is located within the individual and is created by cognitive, physical, or sensory defects or abnormalities that hinder species typical …show more content…
Foucault’s concept aims to reveal the phenomena of knowledge itself (Foucault 1976, 83). Foucault argues that knowledge is generated or constructed within regimes of power and is distributed as a tool of power (O’Farrell 2005, 105). In other words, all knowledge is dependent upon networks of power where the exercise of such power produces or generates knowledge—to have power is to have the ability to create knowledge, otherwise known as truths. This concept is salient in revealing how the MM deploys knowledge that we unequivocally understand as “biological realities” or