Occupational Injustice In Social Work Essay

People with physical disabilities experience occupational injustice every day with society disabling them due to inaccessibility. “Almost all jobs can be performed by someone with a disability given the right environment” (Lindqvist & Lunda, 2012, p. 148). The Human Rights Act 1998 states that we have a right to choose employment, education, leisure, and participate in the cultural life of a community. These are all occupations we have a right to although inaccessibility in society disables people occupationally in the things that are meaningful and purposeful (Legislation.gov.uk, 1998). Lindqvist & Lunda (2012) conducted a study on the experiences of participating at work having a disability. Participants expressed negative work participation feeling misunderstood and perceived as incapable (Lindqvist & Lunda, 2012,
Occupational therapists have an autonomous occupational goal to work towards community participation enabling “active citizenship and achieving a reciprocated sense of value” (Pollard et al., 2009, p21). Both refugees and people with a disability are disabled by society experiencing social exclusion and hostility through lack of awareness. Occupational therapists can advocate for both of these groups campaigning for universal design, further training for people working with these groups and encouraging professionals to continue participating in research to extend the depth of knowledge. As Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power”, this knowledge can empower groups facilitating social inclusion, enabling occupational justice through occupational participation (Bacon, 1597 cited in Rodrígez García, 2001). Collaborating with other professionals is imperative to enable occupational justice, as networking and working together gives a voice to those experiencing injustice urging policy makers and society to