Perceptions towards disability among social work students in Israel: Development and validation of a new scale

Activism, Growth, and Empowerment of Israeli Parents of Children With Disabilities

Traditionally, studies on parenting children with disabilities have focused mostly on experiences of stress. More recently, studies have turned to examining parental coping from the perspective of strength, focusing on the ability to achieve growth and empowerment. Most studies, however, have not examined parental activism as a coping mechanism. Based on the Double ABCX Model of Family Adjustment and Adaptation, this study, conducted in Israel, assessed the adequacy of a theoretical model linking stress, coping, activism, growth, and empowerment of parents of children with disabilities. Activist and nonactivist parents (N = 123) completed a structured questionnaire that included measures of stress, coping, empowerment, and growth. Stress was negatively associated with empowerment and growth, whereas problem-focused coping and parental activism were positively associated with empowerment and growth. Activism was found to mediate the relationships between stress and growth and empowerment, with lower levels of stress being related to higher levels of activism, which was in turn correlated to higher levels of empowerment and growth. Parental activism, consisting of deconstructing problems faced by the family and demanding change in social discourse with a view toward inclusion, choice, rights, and equality, is a useful mechanism for parents in alleviating levels of stress and enhancing sense of empowerment and growth.

Disability Orientation of Occupational Therapy Practitioners in Physical Rehabilitation Settings: Tension Between Medical and Social Models in Theory and Practice

IMPORTANCE

To date, little is known about the extent to which occupational therapy practitioners have adopted the core insights of disability studies.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the degree to which occupational therapy practitioners endorse the medical model of disability versus the social model of disability in theory and in practice.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Physical rehabilitation facilities, ranging from hospital to community settings.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred two Israeli occupational therapy practitioners. Outcomes and Measures: The Orientation toward Disability Scale, constructed for this study, has two dimensions that distinguish between the medical and social models of disability: locus of intervention (the person or environment) and client involvement (extent to which the practitioner fosters the client's autonomy in the rehabilitation process). Each dimension addresses both theoretical and practical endorsements.

RESULTS

Greater support for the social model of disability was mostly evident in the client involvement dimension, whereas support for the medical model of disability was mostly evident in the locus of intervention dimension. Over both dimensions, the medical model of disability was significantly more endorsed in practice than in theory. Work setting and prior exposure to the social model of disability were found to affect practitioners' disability orientation.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Occupational therapy practitioners working in physical rehabilitation are still relatively far from fully adopting the critical insights of the social model of disability. This finding is especially relevant when their actual practice, rather than their theoretical views, is considered and when rehabilitation takes place in out-of-home settings. What This Article Adds: This study offers unique insight into the disability orientation of occupational therapy practitioners, showing a need for more training programs to expose students to the social model of disability. These programs should use critical discussions of the challenges that this model presents to the profession and barriers to implementing it in practice.

Attitudes toward guardianship, social work goals, and perspectives of disability among social work students

Purpose: Guardianship of people with disabilities has been under growing scrutiny, leading some welfare states to offer supported decision-making as a legal alternative. This study examined the attitudes of Israeli social work students toward guardianship and supported decision-making and the relationship between these attitudes and the perceived importance of social work goals, as mediated by perceptions of disability.Materials and methods: Participants were 414 undergraduate and graduate level social work students from Israel. Participants completed a structured questionnaire that measured: attitudes toward guardianship and supported decision-making, importance of social work goals, and perception of disability.Results: Although social work students tended to support limiting the scope of guardianship, they did not clearly oppose it. Individual model perspective of disability mediated the association between the social work goal of social control and attitudes toward guardianship. Social model perspective of disability mediated the association between the social work goal of social justice and attitudes toward guardianship.Conclusion: To reduce guardianship appointments, social work educators should educate students better regarding current supported decision-making trends, emphasize the importance of social justice goals, and discuss critically the necessity of social control. Further, educators need to embrace the social model of disability, in particular its view of autonomy and interdependence.Implications for rehabilitationThe UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has urged limiting guardianship practices, and developing instead less restrictive alternatives, especially supported decision making.In order to fully implement the Convention's vision, efforts must be placed in social work training programs on discussing the limitations of guardianship, the dilemmas it raises and the advantages of other less restrictive alternatives, including that of supported decision-making.Social work educators should also emphasize the importance of social justice goals and discuss critically the necessity of social control.Similar emphasis should be placed on exposing students to the social model of disability, including its view of autonomy and interdependence.