😨 Fear and ignorance
Some people avoid disabled people because they do not understand a condition, or fear it. Not knowing what to say can lead to people being left out.
Rights, Equality and Social Justice: Key Ideas » Disability: Rights, Opportunities and Bias
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 4.2
- The status and role of people with a disability, and why attitudes differ
- How equal rights for disabled people grew in the UK, and what disability bias looks like
- The status and role of people with a disability in religious communities
- Why humanists say society should remove barriers
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Unlock This CourseThe status and role of people with a disability
A disability is a physical or mental condition that has a long-term effect on a person's daily life. It can be physical (such as using a wheelchair or being blind or deaf) or mental (such as a learning disability or a long-term mental health condition). The last lesson explained that status means how much respect and importance society gives a group, and role means the jobs and duties it is expected to do. In the past, many disabled people were hidden away, kept out of school and work, or looked after in large care homes. Today, in the UK, disabled people are expected to take a full part in society, but attitudes still differ.
Key terms:
- Disability: a physical or mental condition with a long-term effect on daily life.
- Medical model: the view that the problem lies in the person's body or mind, so the aim is to treat or cure it.
- Social model: the view that people are disabled by barriers in society, such as steps with no ramp, so the answer is to remove the barriers.
- Reasonable adjustments: sensible changes that an employer or service must make so that a disabled person is not at a disadvantage.
- Disability bias: treating people unfairly because of a disability.
- Hate crime: a crime committed because of hostility towards a person's disability (or race, religion or other characteristic).
Why do attitudes differ?
😔 Pity
Some people see disabled people only as people to feel sorry for. This can sound kind, but it treats them as helpless and lowers their status.
🩹 The medical model
If disability is seen as a problem to fix, people focus on what someone cannot do. Supporters say this approach helps people get treatment and care.
🚪 The social model
If society creates the barriers, then society should change. A wheelchair user is only 'disabled' by a building if the only way in is up steps.
💡 Growing awareness
Campaigns, television, sport and disabled people speaking for themselves have helped more people see ability, not just difference.
The growth of equal rights in the UK
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995: made it illegal to treat disabled people unfairly in jobs, shops and services.
- Equality Act 2010: recalled from the last lesson, it protects disability as one of its nine characteristics. It also gives the duty to make reasonable adjustments, for example fitting a ramp, giving a screen reader to a blind employee, or changing working hours.
- UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: an international agreement from 2006 that says disabled people have the same human rights as everyone else. The UK agreed to it in 2009.
- The Paralympic Games: they grew from a sports competition held in 1948 at Stoke Mandeville, England, for injured war veterans. The first official Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960. Today they show disabled people as top-level athletes.
Equal opportunities in practice include access to education (schools must support pupils with special needs), work (adjustments and support to find and keep jobs), buildings (ramps, lifts and accessible toilets) and transport (low-floor buses, step-free stations and spoken announcements). Ways that people are supported include disability benefits, carers, equipment such as hearing aids, and charities.
Disability bias in society
Laws do not end unfair treatment overnight. Disability bias can still be seen today.
🚧 Barriers
Some older buildings, shops and train stations are still hard to enter. Websites and signs may not work for people who are blind or deaf.
💬 Stereotypes
Ideas such as 'disabled people can't work' or 'they are always a burden' are untrue. They can put employers off.
💼 Lower employment
On average, disabled people in the UK are less likely to be in paid work than non-disabled people, even when they want a job.
⚠️ Hate crime
Some disabled people are bullied, insulted or attacked because of their disability. This is a crime and courts can give a harsher sentence.
People with a disability in religious communities
Religions differ, so this is a general picture. Many religions teach that every person has equal worth, for example because all people are made or loved by God. They often encourage care and charity for people in need, and many religious groups run schools, hospitals and charities that support disabled people. Many communities try to give access to places of worship, with ramps, hearing loops (which send sound straight to hearing aids) or large-print books, and some welcome disabled people as leaders and teachers.
How far equal rights are practised depends on the community. Disability bias can happen in religious communities too. Older buildings may be hard to enter, and some disabled people feel unwelcome or excluded from roles. In the past, and among a few people today, disability has been linked with sin or with actions in a past life. Most believers and religious leaders reject this view, and many teach that it is wrong to blame a person for their condition. Believers can also differ on whether care and charity are enough, or whether disabled people should be given an equal say and equal roles.
Non-religious support for equality
Humanists do not believe in God and base their ethics on reason and shared human feelings. They argue that equal worth rests on our shared humanity, so every person deserves equal respect and rights, whatever their body or mind. They support the social model: society should remove the barriers it puts in people's way, so that disabled people can take a full part.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes
- Mixing up the two models. The medical model focuses on the person's condition; the social model focuses on barriers in society.
- Saying that religions all treat disabled people badly, or all treat them well. Views differ between religions and inside each one.
- Thinking that a law ends bias. The Equality Act 2010 exists, but barriers and stereotypes remain.
- Using outdated or insulting language. Write 'people with a disability' or 'disabled people'.
Exam-style question
(a) Identify three ways in which society helps people with a disability to take part equally. [3 marks] (Paper 1, AO1)
(b) Outline two examples of disability bias in society. [4 marks] (Paper 1, AO1)
(c) Explain why there are different attitudes to people with a disability. [6 marks] (Paper 1, AO1 and AO2)
(d) 'Religious communities do enough to support people with a disability.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks] (Paper 1, AO1 and AO2)
Model answer
(a) 1. Ramps and lifts in buildings (1) 2. Reasonable adjustments at work (1) 3. Step-free or accessible transport (1). Support in education, or the Paralympic Games, would also be accepted.
(b) Barriers: some older buildings have steps and no ramp (1), so wheelchair users cannot get in (1). Lower employment: disabled people are less likely to be in paid work (1), partly because some employers believe stereotypes about what they can do (1).
(c) Attitudes differ for several reasons. Some people feel fear or ignorance because they do not understand a condition, so they avoid disabled people. Others feel pity, which treats disabled people as helpless and lowers their status, because it suggests they cannot make their own choices. People who hold the medical model see disability as a problem in the body to be treated, while people who hold the social model say society creates the barriers and should change, for example by adding ramps and lifts to buildings. Growing awareness through sport and campaigns has also changed many minds. (Level 2: several developed reasons with key terms.)
(d) Plan. Agree: many religions teach equal worth and care and charity; religious groups run hospitals, schools and charities for disabled people; many places of worship have ramps and hearing loops; most believers reject the idea that disability is a punishment. Disagree: older places of worship can still be hard to enter; some disabled people are excluded from roles or leadership; a few people still link disability with sin; charity alone can be pity, not equality; humanists argue that equal worth means removing barriers, not only giving help. Religion: add a teaching from your own religion, and show that believers within it hold different views. Possible conclusion: disagree, because care and charity are valuable but equal rights need equal access and equal roles, and many communities still fall short. Or agree, because religious communities have a long record of care and many now work hard to include everyone.
Exam tip
In (d), cover every key word in the statement. Here, ask what 'enough' means, and judge each argument before you reach a conclusion.