Diminishing Discrimination

Diminishing Discrimination

Times are changing; people who used to be discriminated against are now starting to be treated with more equality and respect. The disrespect and abuse that the disabled community has gotten in the past is a very dark topic that comes with many sad and scary truths. There are many groups and laws at the present time that are helping this community grow. By integrating more disabled people into public services helps them gain a higher esteem for themselves.

The abuse problem amongst the developmentally disabled still does exist today. The most controversial abuse problem happened behind closed doors, in the institutions. The one institution that was in Tucson was called Arizona Training Program Tucson (ATPT). In these such institutions, people with all many varieties of disabilities. This problem of institutional abuse was recognized for at least two centuries (Sobsey, 89). The term institutional abuse refers to neglectful, psychological, physical, an/or sexual abuse that took place in the managed institutional car of human beings (Sobsey, 89-90). Hearing stories from both the patients in these institutions to the workers is horrifying. Some of the things the staff would do to the patients: use heavy sedation, locks, restraints, sexually abuse them, take inappropriate pictures, time outs for long periods of time, and takedowns with several large staff. Other things that were done to the patients was doing the same routine over and over never teaching new tasks, no outside contact, and no luxury items just bed dresser and clothes. Yes, ATPT was one of the better institutions there were. Many were worse.

Institutional abuse is characterized by the extreme power iniquities that exist between staff and residents. In extreme cases, staff control when residents wake up, sleep, eat go to the bathroom, wash, communicate, exercise, rest, and virtually every other aspect of their lives. These extreme disempowerment of institutional residents is rationalized by the paradoxical notion of “good intentions” (Sobsey, 90). The public was hidden from the real truth till recently when they were shut down or changed into day programs and smaller residential settings, to be more like a home environment.