Human Dignity and Disability, Social Factors Influencing Social Construction of Disability Perspective and Impacts on Human Dignity - Case Study Example

Human Dignity and Disability Case Study Name: Institution: Introduction The disabled in the society face considerable social, economic, and political disadvantages. The disadvantages arise from various sources including the pre-existing health disadvantages, effects linked with the onset of the disability, effects linked to the disability post-onset period and the social factors that increases the disadvantages affecting them. Additionally, people with disability face a lot of social exclusion and minimal access to resource allocation and utilization. Thus, the disabled in the society deserve fair treatment irrespective of their condition. This entails considering the rights and their need for a dignified life. Therefore, this essay will analyze in detail two of the most common perspectives of disability and human dignity. Additionally, the essay will analyze some of the factors such as the social norms, circumstance, and attitudes that contribute to each of the perspectives discussed. The ways and extend in which the dignity of people with disability is affected the social factors will be analyzed considering the actions in each perspective and their impacts. The perspectives analyzed in the essay include the social construction of disability perspective and the biomedical perspective of disability. The social construction of disability perspective According to the social construct of disability, social recognition of the disability is one of the anchors of promoting disabled individuals’ dignity and human rights. Every member in a society deems to have an inestimable value irrespective of his or her body states. The society should view its members from the perspective of their inherent self-worth rather than their economic stabilities. Thus, the disabled in the society deserve recognition as having a claim of the societal benefits and not merely on their economic and social utility. Social perspective of human dignity perceives that the disabled are not the ends to the society members but to themselves (Ellis, 2008).  The consideration of the disabled human dignity in the social construct of disability focuses on considering the disabled as subjects and not objects in the society. Disability is because of labeling by the society members based on individuals’ inability to perform some of the social and economic roles. This occurs due to the social construction of individual differences that is not innate but applied with labels violating individual’s rights and dignity. The social practices used to evaluate the labels for the disabled in the society lack neutrality or interested processes. Thus, the society disables people with power preservation principles that oppress the disabled in the society (Hammell, 2006).  Additionally, the social construction of disability perspective focuses mainly on keeping people in the society apart. Societal actions such as built environment for those with abilities to walk contribute to disabling of the disabled in the society. Our contemporary society does not consider the difference in the entry and participation of the disabled in mainstreaming. Therefore, these societal acts contribute greatly to the social construction of disability hence, violation of the disabled rights and dignity (Goggin & Newell, 2003). Biomedical perspective of disability According to the biomedical perspective of disability, disability or illness occur due to physical condition that is intrinsic to an individual. The condition might reduce individual’s ability to engage in activities of the daily living and quality of life. The perspective focuses on curing, managing, or identifying the causative factors contributing to the illness or the disability (Carlson, 2010). Additionally, the perspective perceives the society as investing its resources in the health care. The society members play few responsibilities in determining and making decisions on the nature of care provided to the disabled by the health care professionals (Barnes & Mercer, 2009).  However, the biomedical perspective of disability does not consider the social and environmental factors contributing to the disability. It focuses on the ways of minimizing individual’s disability and impairment secondary to the condition using the adaptive technology. This does not consider the disabled dignity and rights since the society and the surrounding environment play a vital role in determining their health outcomes (Terzi, 2010). Biomedical perspective contributes to the degradation of the social needs of the disabled in the society. The health outcomes in this perspective are determined by the medical interventions adopted to manage the disability. It does not appreciate the importance of social inclusion practices and universal designs as the requirements of positive health outcomes among the disabled (Dell & Power, 2007). Conceptually, the dignity of the disabled in this perspective relies on the effectiveness of the research, technologies, and procedures used to manage the disability. The perspective displays the disabled as disempowered and pitiable individuals in the society. This occurs because of medical initiatives that display the disabled in a negative way. The perspective responds to the issue of disability by depriving the society any responsibility of providing care and civil rights to the disabled. Therefore, despite it promoting the well-being of the disabled in the society, it does not appreciate the roles played by the environment and the society in determining the health outcomes in people with disability (Ellis, 2008).  Social factors influencing the social construction of disability perspective and impacts on human dignity One of the social factors influencing the social construction of the disability perspective is the societal norms. Social norms such as the labeling of the society members basing on their abilities to perform specific social and economic chores contribute to the social construction of disability (Dempsey & Nankervis, 2006). The social belief of evaluating society members basing on the power they possess also contribute to the social construct of disability. The social inequalities existing in various setting such as education, social interaction, family relationship, and workplace relationship contribute to the process. Social attitudes such as lifestyles, identity, power differences, and personality differences play a key role in the social construction of the disability. Social circumstances such as the inability of the society to provide the disabled with proper education, employment, equipping them with skills, intimacy, and adequate transport facilities contribute to the social construction of the disability that influence their dignity (Jones, 1999). These factors affect the dignity of the disabled by limiting their access to the universal resources and privileges of various societal roles. Social factors influencing the biomedical perspective of disability and its effects on the dignity of the disabled One of the social attitudes influencing the biomedical perspective of disability is the medical belief that individual traits play a role in determining their health outcomes. The perspective beliefs that specific human trait contributes to specific physiological impairment that contribute to the disability (Terzi, 2010). The perspective is encapsulated in a social attitude that individual’s problem is an issue of clinical intervention. Thus, it does not recognize the roles played by other factors such as the society and the environment in contributing to the disability (Barnes & Mercer, 2003).  Additionally, the perspective operates in a belief that individuals’ health seeking behaviors influence their predisposition to disabilities. Active health seeking habits is associated with reduced risks of disabilities when compared with those with poor health seeking habits (Marks, 1999). Consequently, this affects the dignity of the disabled since the social and environmental factors contributing to their condition is not appreciated. This leads to ethical dilemmas on the effectiveness of the care provided to the disabled in the society (Barnes & Mercer, 2009).  Ways in which the social construction of illness Justify its actions that influences the dignity of the disabled in the society One of the justifications raised by the social construction of disability theorists is that the society should have powerful people in the society to guard the one with less power from misuse and exploitation (Dell & Power, 2007). Additionally, violation of the disabled rights and dignity in the social construction perception is a result of the adopted definition of disability by the public policy. Public policy defines disability as whatever the states’ policy says about the causes of the disability affecting an individual. This does not specific the origin of the problem as it can either be individual or from the environment (Lollar & Andresen, 2010).  However, other social construction of disability theorists believes that the disabled in the society deserve equal treatment irrespective of their status. Actions such as social recognition and equitability in the allocation of resources are some of the justification cited to enhance the dignity of the disabled (Hammell, 2006). The ability of this perspective to keep people apart in the society violates the disabled dignity and deprives off their rights. To justify this action, the perspective assumes that creation of environments that facilitate free communication and education does not merely depend on one’s ability to perform the social and economic activities but the ability to listen, understand, and speak (Shakespeare, 1998).  Ways in which the biomedical perspective of disability justify its actions The biomedical perspective of disability uses the medical principles and knowledge to justify their acts of isolating the society and environment in the evaluation of disability causative factors (Conyers, 2002). According to the biomedical perspective, the medical professionals’ best understand the causes and management of disability. The complications associated with the condition are intrinsic, specific, and unique to each individual affected by disability. Therefore, prevention of the current condition predisposing the patient to the disability is achievable with the use of the medical interventions. This compromises the dignity of the disabled the minimization of their social, spiritual, and environmental needs (Ellis, 2008).  Aspects of human dignity jeopardized when human dignity and person are singly considered Separate consideration of the human dignity and disability results in jeopardy of the human health, outcomes, and the overall well-being. This leads to over exploitation of the disabled in the society through ways such as unequal distribution of resources, lack of social recognition, and increased incidences of social stigmatization (Goggin & Newell, 2003). Isolation also leads to inadequate representation of the disabled in the society. This occurs due to their perceived nature of minority by the society members (Rapley, 2004). Consequently, this leads to increased incidences of lack of transparency, accountability, and responsibility on the use of resources. The disabled will be at an increased risk of other health related disadvantages. This occurs due to the decrease in the quality of care provided and lack of adequate social and economic support (Carlson, 2010). Conclusion From the above analysis of the two perspectives of disability, it is evidently clear that the disabled in the society face numerous challenges that affect their health negatively. This occurs due to the varied perspectives from both the social construction model and the biomedical model of disability. Therefore, interventions targeting to improve the lives of the disabled to ensure that adequate social, economic, and psychological support are availed to the disabled to enhance the lives of the disabled in the society. References Barnes, C., & Mercer, G. (2003). Disability. Cambridge: Polity Press. Barnes, C., & Mercer, G. (2009). Exploring disability. Polity. Carlson, L. (2010). The faces of intellectual disability: Philosophical reflections. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Conyers, J. L. (2002). Black cultures and race relations. 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