Social Participation and Human Rights

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698). This special issue belongs to the section "Disabled People/People with Disabilities (Non-Medical Coverage)".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2018) | Viewed by 59245

Special Issue Editors

1. Department of Management, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
2. Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Quebec City, QC G1M 2S8, Canada
Interests: social theories; disability; social participation; policies; participatory research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Doctoral Student, School of Social Work, Université Laval and 2) Research Professional at Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration, 525, Wilfrid-Hamel Blvd., Room H-1312 Québec (Québec) G1M 2S8
Interests: work and employment; social policies; life-course; social participation and human rights

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Societies invites academics to explore the issues concerning the social participation and human rights of persons with disabilities through critical and interdisciplinary perspectives from the social sciences and humanities. In the last two decades, these issues have been intensively discussed and debated in the field of disability, and more so since the adoption in 2006 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the United Nations. Using its guiding principles and articles in their advocacy efforts, many disability organizations have recently begun monitoring their individual and collective human rights violations and asking to be consulted on the social policies and measures that are impacting their daily life. This Special issue would like to explore how the dissemination of the global disability rights discourse have been changing the ways in which social justice and social participation issues have been conceptualized and acted upon by public, private and community decision makers. We are also searching for original articles discussing the pro and cons of using the human rights perspective in the disability field. Finally, this Special Issue is interested in knowing more about how human rights theoretical and grounded approaches may contribute to our understanding of the disability phenomenon.

Dr. Normand Boucher
Mr. Francis Charrier
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • disability
  • human rights
  • social justice

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 252 KiB  
Article
Is the Right to Access to the Services and Supports Ensured for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children? An Ethnographic Study Based on the Experience of Hearing Parents
by Carolina Puyaltó, Charles Gaucher and Ann M. Beaton
Societies 2018, 8(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8030053 - 18 Jul 2018
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2666
Abstract
The right of people with disabilities to access services and supports they need is internationally recognized by the United Nations’ Convention (CRPD) on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, deaf and hard-of-hearing children face obstacles to access services requested by their parents. [...] Read more.
The right of people with disabilities to access services and supports they need is internationally recognized by the United Nations’ Convention (CRPD) on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, deaf and hard-of-hearing children face obstacles to access services requested by their parents. As part of a broader ethnographic research project focused on the experience of Francophone hearing parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, this study explores the obstacles encountered by parents in their struggle to ensure that the needs of their children are met. 117 parents from Canada (n = 52), Belgium (n = 15), France (n = 23), and Switzerland (n = 27) participated in an in-depth interview. The main findings show that parents face important difficulties to access the available services due to their rural location, situated far from the main health services and due to the long wait times. Also, the unavailability of some of the rehabilitation and educational services represent another important obstacle that leads parents to become the main advocates for their children rights. Finally, some lines of action to implement the CRPD provisions are drawn to contribute to the right of deaf and hard-of-hearing children to access to the services they need. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
12 pages, 387 KiB  
Article
Monitoring Disability Policies and Legislation towards Effective Exercise of Rights to Equality and Inclusive Access for Persons with Disabilities: The Case of the Quebec Model
by Patrick Fougeyrollas and Yan Grenier
Societies 2018, 8(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020041 - 12 Jun 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6965
Abstract
Quebec’s government established a mechanism to monitor its progress towards achieving the right to equality for people with disabilities. With the goal of strengthening the accountability of public actors, this mechanism is based on legal provisions and inclusive political guidelines. In 2009, the [...] Read more.
Quebec’s government established a mechanism to monitor its progress towards achieving the right to equality for people with disabilities. With the goal of strengthening the accountability of public actors, this mechanism is based on legal provisions and inclusive political guidelines. In 2009, the provincial government adopted a policy entitled “Equals in Every Respect: Because Rights Are Meant to Be Exercised” along with other legal dispositions aimed at significantly increasing the social participation of people with disabilities. The Disability Creation Process, a conceptual reference model also known as the Quebec Model, proposes that public actors should be able to identify and act upon environmental obstacles within their respective competences to transform them into facilitators. The challenge facing inclusive policy-monitoring mechanisms is to acquire quantitative and qualitative information-collecting tools and strategies that link the quality of access of the components of the physical and social environment to the quality of the social participation for the various segments of the population with or without disabilities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
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19 pages, 320 KiB  
Article
Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities in the European Union: Paving the Road to Social Inclusion
by Delia Ferri and Silvia Favalli
Societies 2018, 8(2), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020040 - 12 Jun 2018
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 10475
Abstract
Despite the drawbacks and the challenges highlighted by several scholars, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in particular the World Wide Web, has the potential to foster social inclusion of people with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), [...] Read more.
Despite the drawbacks and the challenges highlighted by several scholars, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in particular the World Wide Web, has the potential to foster social inclusion of people with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which entered into force in 2008, has illuminated the role technology can play as a tool to promote the human rights of people with disabilities, and their participation and inclusion in society. The UNCRPD has also conceptualized ICT accessibility as a precondition for the enjoyment of rights, prompting a series of reforms in domestic legal frameworks globally and in the European Union (EU). Against this background, this article aims to address the role played by the EU in fostering “digital inclusion”, and critically evaluates relevant EU policies and legal rules, locating them within the broader realm of the implementation of the UNCRPD. It pays particular attention to Directive 2016/2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, as well as on the proposal for a European Accessibility Act (EAA). It attempts to show that, while the EU has thus far played an extremely important role in fostering web accessibility, many remaining obstacles must be eradicated to fully ensure access to the web to people with disabilities. This article adopts a doctrinal legal research methodology and is primarily concerned with the analysis of relevant legal rules and related scholarship. In addition, it is informed by a socially-oriented understanding of disability and builds upon the multifaceted and multidisciplinary literature on disability and technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
13 pages, 233 KiB  
Article
Canadian Disability Policies in a World of Inequalities
by Deborah Stienstra
Societies 2018, 8(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020036 - 30 May 2018
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 12119
Abstract
Canadian disability-related policies are shaped within a global system of inequalities, including colonialism and neoliberalism. Using a critical theory framework, this article examines the complicated material inequalities experienced by people with disabilities and evident in the intersections of disability, gender, Indigenousness, race, and [...] Read more.
Canadian disability-related policies are shaped within a global system of inequalities, including colonialism and neoliberalism. Using a critical theory framework, this article examines the complicated material inequalities experienced by people with disabilities and evident in the intersections of disability, gender, Indigenousness, race, and age. The collectively held ideas that give context to disability policies are at odds. Human rights protections are found in the foundational documents of Canadian society and part of its international commitments, yet these commitments often become window-dressing for a pervasive logic that it is better to be dead than disabled, and medical assistance in dying legislation supports this choice. While human rights protections are essential, they are not sufficient for decolonizing inclusion. Constructive actions between Indigenous peoples and settlers may help to find new ways of addressing disability and inclusion in Canada. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
43 pages, 394 KiB  
Article
An Analysis of the Adequacy of Protection Afforded by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Situations of Armed Conflict
by Ivan K. Mugabi
Societies 2018, 8(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020028 - 08 May 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4707
Abstract
This essay aims to describe the contrasting approaches to disability described by international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) with the aim of pointing out the approaches/models of disability underpinning two legal regimes. The limits of those approaches/models in the [...] Read more.
This essay aims to describe the contrasting approaches to disability described by international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) with the aim of pointing out the approaches/models of disability underpinning two legal regimes. The limits of those approaches/models in the treatment and protection of persons with disabilities shall be investigated and established. Ultimately, the paper considers the possibility of recommending a unified approach/model that should underpin both IHL and IHRL in addressing aspects of disability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
16 pages, 310 KiB  
Article
A Brave New World of Work through the Lens of Disability
by Elisa Fiala
Societies 2018, 8(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020027 - 05 May 2018
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6433
Abstract
Work and paid employment has become a central aspect of social identity in our contemporary work societies. The assumed positive aspects of wage labour and employment on individual well-being are hardly questioned. It is instead claimed that work offers the individual a sense [...] Read more.
Work and paid employment has become a central aspect of social identity in our contemporary work societies. The assumed positive aspects of wage labour and employment on individual well-being are hardly questioned. It is instead claimed that work offers the individual a sense of purposefulness, a possibility to contribute to the collective good and a daily structure. Since its late emergence in the 1960s, the disability rights movement has put an emphasis on exclusion from work and employment. Nevertheless, all over the world, people with disabilities still belong to the most marginalised groups in the labour market. Using disability rights monitoring as a method, this paper explores what role the disability rights framework plays in shaping and transforming our present work society. Based on a German context, it is outlined how the international human rights framework has influenced the social policies that support the inclusion of disabled people in work and employment. Including the narratives of disabled people, it is outlined that despite comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, the German labour market remains exclusionary and discriminatory against people with disabilities. Recently introduced measures, however, point to a new direction and aim to create a more equal and just world of work that acknowledges embodied differences and the needs and capabilities of disabled and non-disabled workers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
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17 pages, 266 KiB  
Article
Supported Decision-Making from Theory to Practice: Implementing the Right to Enjoy Legal Capacity
by Rosie Harding and Ezgi Taşcıoğlu
Societies 2018, 8(2), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020025 - 24 Apr 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6583
Abstract
The right to equal recognition before the law, protected by Article 12 of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), mandates the use of supported decision-making practices to enable disabled people, particularly those with intellectual and/or psychosocial [...] Read more.
The right to equal recognition before the law, protected by Article 12 of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), mandates the use of supported decision-making practices to enable disabled people, particularly those with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, to enjoy their legal capacity. Finding ways to translate this theoretical mandate into practice poses a number of particularly challenging socio-legal issues, which this research seeks to address. The English Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) sets out a right to support with decision-making (s.1(3)), underpinned by a presumption of capacity (s.1(2)). Qualitative interviews with intellectually disabled people, their supporters, and care and support professionals were undertaken to explore how disabled people make decisions in their everyday lives, the kinds of support they need, and the strategies for supported decision-making used in practice. Analysis of these interviews suggests that a range of supported decision-making techniques have been developed in practice and are effective in supporting everyday preferences and some life choices. Paradoxically, it appears that as decisions become more complex, the support available to disabled people reduces. Specifically, much less support is available for more difficult decisions around finances, healthcare and legal matters. We argue that the reasons for this are due to a web of regulatory, social and policy issues. We conclude that implementing the right to enjoy legal capacity through supported decision-making will require a combination of regulatory reform, social change and policy amendment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
17 pages, 612 KiB  
Article
Exploring Clothing as a Barrier to Workplace Participation Faced by People Living with Disabilities
by Kerri McBee-Black and Jung Ha-Brookshire
Societies 2018, 8(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8010019 - 15 Mar 2018
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 8682
Abstract
In response to research which argues that people living with a disability (PLWD) face societal barriers including workplace participation, this study explored how the barriers to social participation, specifically workplace participation, faced by PLWD are exacerbated by the lack of appropriate clothing and [...] Read more.
In response to research which argues that people living with a disability (PLWD) face societal barriers including workplace participation, this study explored how the barriers to social participation, specifically workplace participation, faced by PLWD are exacerbated by the lack of appropriate clothing and the role that stigma, self-efficacy, and clothing have in workplace participation. Finding appropriate clothing is a significant barrier to social participation for many PLWD. The social model of disability used in this study supports this by suggesting that it is society which places barriers to PLWD rather than their disability. A qualitative inquiry of semi-structured, in-depth interviews was used, and the results showcase six sub-themes of barriers: work defines me, disability as the barrier to workplace participation, work allows extra societal opportunities, stigma questions my self-efficacy, workplace accommodations diminish my stigma, and clothing builds my self-efficacy. The study found that, for PLWD, workplace participation is hindered because of occupational typecasting and lack of appropriate clothing, which increases their stigma and decreases their self-efficacy. The contributions of this study include theory support, policy, community, and educational enhancement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Participation and Human Rights)
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