For the purpose of this assignment I am going to discuss the social construct of disability by focusing on eugenics and language. In addition to the medical and social model of disability, segregation and the oppression of disability. Furthermore the Medias influence on social constructs.
Within the United Kingdom there are an estimated 9 million disabled adults. (Office for Disability Issues updated Department for Work and Pensions estimates based on Family Resources survey 2009/10). Despite the high number, people with impairments are treated as a separate homogenous group to the rest of society. Firstly, to understand where we are today with disability as a social construction I will provide a historical account of disability in western society.
To pinpoint precisely the origins of society’s attitude towards disability and disabled people would be almost impossible (Barton 1996). One theory that has been suggested, is that the view that our perceptions of impairments and disability are influenced by psychological fear of the unknown, the anomalous and the abnormal (Barton 1996 cites Douglas 1966).
Historically, disability has been a source of oppression where disabled people have been socially excluded from many areas of social life. The exclusion can be traced back to an era when biblically ideas formed of society. The religious model of disability produced notions of what was acceptable and not acceptable; this included the exclusion of imperfections of the body. Imperfect bodies were presented as immoral and disability was perceived as a punishment inflicted on a person for their sins (Clapton & Fitzgerald 2008).
The Malleus Malficarum of 1487 declared that these children were the product of the mothers’ intercourse with Satan. Mental and physical impairments were also the primary targets for amusement and ridicule during the middle ages (Barton 1996).
Socially well placed parents could pay a penny, to take their children for a Sunday outing to view the inmates of London’s Bethleham Hospital, known as “Bedl’m” displayed for public amusement (Foucault, 1965, p.68). The 18th and 19th century was an era where scientific reason and rationale thinking about the social world led to new notions and the beginnings medicalization of disability.
The eugenics movement arose in the 20th century as two wings of a common philosophy of human worth. Francis Galton, who devised the term eugenics in 1883, after studying Charles Darwin’s book ‘The Origins of Life’, where Darwin suggested the theme of evolution and that within species the fittest would survive and adapt whilst the weaker inferior would die out. Galton adapted this concept to the human race, after studying the upper classes in the British society he came to the conclusion that the reasons for their social positions where the reasons for their genetic make up. Galton defined eugenics as ‘the science of improvement of the human germ plasm through better breeding’ (Swain & French 2008).During the early years of eugenics he came to the assumption that with selective breeding the human race would devise its own evolution. The scientific knowledge combined with theological thought led to the assumption that individuals with impairments were a threat to society.
The American Eugenics Society (AES) was formed in 1921 by Madison Grant, Harry Laughlin, Irving Fisher, Harry Osborn and Henry Crampton, after the Second International Conference on Eugenics. The Eugenics Committee of the United States was established that ultimately led to the incorporation of the American Eugenic Society in 1926.
The society based their principles on the works of Francis Galton, and served to promote eugenic health, genetic education and racial betterment.
The Standardised IQ testing was initially introduced in 1912, created by Henry Goddard, which was later utilised by the American Eugenics Society in an attempt to validate and identify who the ‘imbeciles’ or ‘inferior’ individuals were then incarcerated. Asylums and Long Stay Hospitals were for the professional care of people thought to have mental health issues and physical disabilities. If placed in either an Asylum or Long Stay Hospital the individuals were then forcibly sterilized to prevent them from reproducing and passing on ‘inferior’ genes to further generations.
The AES main objective was to rid America of interiors, to make a stronger society. To ensure this they brought in immigration laws to prevent anyone who was inferior soiling the population with the defective genes.
Karl Marx (1881-83) was the first person to establish the link between intellectual agenda and place in society known as 'Social Constructionism'. He famously stated that, "it is not the consciousness of men that determines their social being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness."
Social constructionism approach outlines that contextual, linguistic and relational social factors create identities as our "own theories of ourselves" (Phoenix, 2007, p. 47). Personal and social identity are inseparable and all identities are social (Phoenix, 2007). Different from Psychosocial Identity Theory (Erikson, 1968) or Social Identity Theory (SIT, Tafjel 1981), no stable core identity exists. Identities are fluid, changing and unstable due to shifting social surroundings or interpersonal relations (Phoenix & Thomas, 2007). Identities constitute resources to negotiate our everyday interactions and are shaped by social contexts that include relationships of power (Phoenix, 2007).
Language is vital because narrative accounts and discourses - our way of thinking and talking construct identities in everyday-life (Phoenix, 2007, Bartky, 1990). Processes of distinctions in language contribute to the making and validation of reality (Phoenix, 2007, Raskin, 2002). Moreover, language creates power-relations through discourses (Foucault, 1983). Groups of people, with similarities and differences in their identities, but who belong to the same social category, are often powerful enough to make. According to social paradigm and power relations, barricades are a built up and dividing practices are being used to exclude individuals who are considered ‘different’ by socially more powerful categories (Hughes, 2007 Foucault 1983, 1997). This is socially constructed dichotomy between “able” and “disable” is crucial because “ability”, equal to productivity, determines the social perceptions of a person as fully functional, while differences diminish the individual’s status (Luborsky, 1994). Expressions like “disability/ impairment” involve insufficiency and inferiority. Illich (1975) argues that sickness is socially constructed by the medicalization of society. He states “the unbounded multiplication of sick-role is the sixth symptom of social iatrogensis. People who look strange or behave oddly threaten any society, until their uncommon traits have been formally named and their uncommon behaviour has been slotted into a recognised role” (p.56). Labelling theorists such as Mead and Cooley have focused on what happens to individuals once they are labelled, such as Illich discusses in Medical Nemesis. For example a child who is a wheelchair user is labelled disabled therefore giving meaning to them not having the ability to be able to achieve something. Labelling theory “adopted and anti-positivist relativism in which social reality is not straight forward, pre given and absolute but was socially constructed problematic and open to interpretation” Bilton et al. (2002 p389).
The medical model of disability regards disabled people as passive victims of their impairment, which leads to a view that the nature of the disability is most important aspect of identity with the need to be cured or fixed. The disabled body is measured against the able body and constructed as abnormal and unequal (Barnes et al. 2002). Ideas based on the medical model of disability have contributed to the oppression of disabled people in society. Oliver (1990) is critical of the medical model of disability for being the root cause for discrimination, oppression and marginalisation of people with impairment. In addition Oliver contends that any model of disability is not adequate if it is not based on the collective experience of disabled people themselves. This is an important point since historically past perspectives and policies of disability have been centred on non disabled views of disability. Oliver (1990) uses a Marxist framework to provide an explanation of the impact industrialisation had on disabled people. Disabled people experienced high levels of social exclusion as factory work replaced agricultural work from the home. Those individuals who were unable to sell their labour for power were marginalised and excluded from mainstream society. It is here that state intervention began with the lives of people with impairment. The opening of workhouses, asylums and special education schools brought social control with the rise of a capitalist society. Foucault (1977) contends that the state is an apparatus used to control individuals in society including the regulation if the body of people with impairments.
There has been a slow progression from the medical model to the social model of disability from the 1970’s when the disabled people’s movement took place. The social model begins by drawing a distinction between impairment and disability (Swain et al. 2004). Thompson (2006) contends that “impairment is the lack of part or all of a limb, or having defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body” (p124) which was first introduced by the Union of The Physically Impaired Against Segregation in 1976. The social model of disability views societal attitudes and the built environment as disabling, rather than the impairment. The model of disability has been developed by activists who have impairments and call for the removal of all those barriers in all areas of society that prevents inclusion and equality for everyone. This includes access to the mainstream education system, better employment opportunities and access to all infrastructures (Swain et al. 2004).
Barton (1995) provides a critique of segregated special education for creating stereotypical and negative labels that are attached to pupils who attend ‘special’ needs schools. Barton argues that ‘ pupils within special education schools receive an inferior education to their able bodied peers and the rhetoric of ‘caring’ and ‘supporting’ often obscures this fact (1995:29). Additionally, segregated provision of education contributes to a heightened difference between individuals who have impairments and those who do not. This ultimately impacts on social attitudes and shapes the assumptions about disability. Quickie (1992) argues that education system for disabled people creates ‘disorder, alienation, and a culture of dependency’ (p.2). Furthermore, marginalisation within the educational system negatively impacts on disabled people’s opportunity for well paid employment or training opportunities with further education in adult life. Individuals with impairments need equal access to the same learning opportunities as those individuals who do not have impairment. From these critiques of segregated education for disabled people, it can be argued that this kind of provision of education is poor and leads to social exclusion and oppression. Therefore, inclusive education would aid in eliminating the stereotypical as well as provide broader more comprehensive education for disabled people.
Disabled people can also encounter oppression when leaving the education system and entering the labour market. For instance, access to employment can be restricted as a result of limited qualifications gained at school. This is directly linked to people with impairments living on low incomes. Therefore lack educational opportunity and contributes to a high number of disabled people experiencing poverty (Swain et al. 2004). Poverty statistics indicate there are around half a million people living in poverty in the United Kingdom. Barnes & Mercer (1995) contend that disabled people experience higher levels of economic and social deprivation than any other group in society.
Within England the Equality and Human Rights Commission is responsible for implementing The Equality Act (2010) which was derived from the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). This piece of legislation has helped to alleviate discrimination in the workplace. However, it would be useful to note that practicalities still arise. For example, not all disabled people have access to and around workplace environments. Under The Equality Act (2010) the employer are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for employees who have disabilities. However, what is deemed ‘reasonable adjustment’ is contestable by employers (Swain et al. 2004). Lack of accessibility within the workplace will negatively impact on the employability of people with impairments. Furthermore, social attitudes towards individuals who are disabled can effect an employer’s decision on rejecting or accepting applications for employment (Roulstone 1988). According to Graham et al (1990) disabled people are less likely to be accepted for a position of employment than someone who is able bodied. This can be linked to negative social attitudes towards disability. These accounts of discrimination and oppression with the labour market are interconnected to be the issue of disability poverty.
Leaman (1981) states that ‘poverty does not arise because of physical inability to work or earn a living but because we are prevented from working by the way work is organised’ (p14).
The media is a powerful and influential institution that shapes social constructs and the representation of disability. For example, the media has the power to shape social perceptions ad attitudes towards those with impairments. Stereotypical images of disability in the media are based in the medical model of disability. Characters are often portrayed as victims in need of help from charities or medical intervention (Swain et al 2004). Disability activist Paul Hunt (1991) conducted a study to investigate the stereotypical images of people with disabilities in the media. The study identified ten stereotypical images of impairment that contribute to the disempowerment of disabled people. Despite this study being carried out in 1991 it still has relevance today. In 2002 British Television Drama, ‘The Lost Prince’ depicted a story of a prince incapable of participating in society because of his impairment (British Film Institute 2006). Thompson (2006) contends that the oppression of disabled people manifests itself through institutions such as media on a structural level and portrays a stereotypical image of dependency. This is reinforced and manifests itself through the cultural and personal level of discrimination. Furthermore, Thompson claims that ‘ideology refers to the power of ideas to maintain existing structures and social relations’ (Thompson, 2001:27).
In conclusion I have discussed how disability has been social constructed with the use of media, language and segregation using eugenics as a dominate discourse throughout. Leading on to how the medicalization and labelling of disability has oppressed socially and lead to societal perspectives on disability and impairment being of negativity, with the inclusion of the social model of disability and how perceptions in today’s society is changing to a collective society of inclusion and equality.

Bibliography and Reference
Bartky, S. L. (1990) Feminity and Domination. Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression (Thinking Gender) Routledge: New York
Barnes, C & Mercer (1995) Disabled People and Community Participation, In G. Craig & M Mayo (eds) Community Participation and Empowerment. London: Zed Books
Barton, L. (1993) The Struggle for Citizenship: The Case of Disabled People. Disability Handicap & Society, 8 (3) 235-248
Barton, L. (1995) Segregated Special Education: Some Critical Observations. In G. Zarb ed. Removing Disabling Barriers, London: Policy Studies Institute. Ch 3.
Barton, L. (1996) Disability and Society: Emerging Issues and Insights London: Longman
Barton, L. (2001) Disability Politics & The Struggle For Change. David Fulton Publications Ltd. London