Examining the Social and Cultural Models of Disability

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Recommended: The medical and social models of disabilities

In this paper, the determination is to examine the social and cultural models of disability that have been critiqued in recent disability studies scholarship because the social model omits disabled people and the cultural model disabled people do not need their own identity and they need to be included like the rest of us. By understanding why and how the social model and cultural model is being offered, why do people critique it and what are the negatives of it.

The social model of disability excludes disabled people. Society excludes disabled people because since the social model is part of society, oppression and exclusion still continues. According to Berger he explains that the social model of disability “focuses on the socially imposed barriers that construct disability as a subordinate social status and devalued life experience.” (Berger 2013, p.51). Society itself marginalizes these groups. A large object but rather a bunch of methods to the disability must not reflect the social model of disability. It also addresses the judgment that society gives disabled people.

The social model came from the medical model because the social model discrimination in contradiction of disabled people and they face undesirable approaches towards them on a daily basis. All the helpers of doctors, specialists, and social workers, try to find a cure and make the disabled people feel as normal as possible. They build a strong foundation for the disabled people to have a better life, and help them feel like a part of society. The medical model plays a role in the model of disability that is being critiqued here. Disability can cause many different problems; the most common ones being experienced are physical, mental and sensory impai...

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...larship through the many critiques of the critical readings and in lecture that have been discussed, including links to embodiment, identity politics, and intersectionality. With that being expressed, they all link together as one to create a more preponderant understanding on what the social and cultural models of disability define. You mainly find pieces of information from Berger’s reading since he physically contacts upon all aspects of what the social and cultural models of disability should be.

Reference List:

Berger, R. (2013). Explaining disability. In Introducing disability studies (pp. 25-50). Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Gorman, R. (2010). Empire of rights: The convergence of neoliberal governance, 10 “states of exception,” and the Disability Rights Movement. Available at: http://womenscentre.sa.utoronto.ca/files/2012/08/Gorman-2010-1.pdf

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