Understanding How the Medical and Social Model of Disability Supports People With Disability

Understanding How the Medical and Social Model of Disability Supports People With Disability Introduction Disability is a term that is used to described people who are not able to independently live, achieve their livelihood, attain mobility, speak, learn, take care of themselves among other problems. Most of these are developmental problems and others can occur as a result of accidents.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Understanding How the Medical and Social Model of Disability Supports People With Disability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other disabilities are congenital, that is, a disability one was born with as a result of genetic failure. Some of these disabilities include Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome among others. The word disability was first used in 1970 in the U.S where it was used by the congress as they were setting the law in order to improve the living standards of institutions where the disadvantaged people were living (Neef, 2001). The word disability is also used in the society to describe a group of people who need specialized services. The disabled in the society are identified by the support groups who are offering the services (Tassoni et al, 2005). From the medical field disability can be used to describe people who have mental disorder, physical, cognitive or chronic diseases that can occur before birth or during life time. Disability is also personal and how a person deals with it depends on the support of family members, friends, relatives, and peers. The medical model concentrates on how a disabled person interacts with other people while society model shows how the society interacts with disabled persons. Disabled people may suffer isolation and discrimination and to prevent this society should be aware of these people and help them with their needs (Scrambler, 2008).Advertising Looking for assessment on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Medical Model of Disability Medical model of disability takes disability as a personal thing and it has to be determined by a doctor and a person has to provide medical certificates to prove his disability. Medical model view disability as a deficiency and that being disabled is negative. It also suggests that disability is a personal thing and that the treatment requires a medical professional. It focuses on the cure and stabilization of a person (Parens, 2006). According to medical model, disability can decrease the quality of life and cause disadvantages to the person. In the medical model, medical solutions such as surgery and therapies are used to try to cure the condition or normalize a person so as to fit in the society and be able to meet the needs of a person. In medical model, professionals believe in curing the condition permanently or trying to change its cause in order to normalize the life of a person. They believe in having an in depth understanding of its cause. Medical mode l of disability is seen as a social degradation of disabled people. Medical model involves the history, complainant, physical examination, laboratory tests, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. It is a pathology that is trying to treat the symptoms that are causing disability (Hauritz, 1998). Medical model conducts researches on physical and psychological problems on basis of cause and treatment. It has been observed that in medical model mental illness is examined on behavior of a person and not physical examination this lower the standards of medical model and it is being criticized. The medical model involves cooperation of the doctor and patient. The patient and the doctor are determined in curing the disability. When the medical model fails the patient feel disappointed and discouraged while on the other hand the doctor feels frustrated because of the failure to achieve the goal.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Understanding How the Medical and So cial Model of Disability Supports People With Disability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The patient may lose trust on the model and stop complying with treatment. The doctor may lose confidence with his medical practice. Medical model believes that the society should invest in the medical treatment of people in order to reduce disability and normalize self dependence of disabled people. The profession in medical model is seen as central (Burkhauser Daly, 2002). Advantages of Medical Model of Disability One of the advantages of the medical model is that a disabled person can be cured completely from his disability. Medical model deal with investigating the real origin of the disability and try to treat it and it does not revolve on speculations. This makes it possible to cure the disability. Disability model has instituted the rights of disabled people and independent living movements have gained strength. Medical model does not view disab ility as a deviance in the society but as a condition that can be treated and a person live a normal independent life. Medical model is against social discrimination of people with disability and refers to this as worsening the condition. Medical model of disability gets funding from the government and people can benefit from subsidized treatment of disability (Laslei Anita, 2000). Problems of Medical Model of Disability Money is seen as being misdirected to the expensive treatment of disability instead of being directed to social development activities to assist disabled people financially. This includes money used on drugs, tests, surgical procedures (Emerso, 1995). The social model prefers that such money be put for social development for the whole society to benefit. Disability rights people view medical model of disability as a civil right issue and look down on medical people who use it in their portrayal of disabled people.Advertising Looking for assessment on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People in the society view the medical model as a way of pitying and negative disempowerment of disabled people instead of viewing disability as a political and social problem. Medical model of disability suffers the social cultural criticism as the culture affects the accessibility and adherence to treatment (Alder et al, 2009). Conclusion Medical model of disability is involved in finding out the origin of the disability through history, physical examination, and tests. Upon finding the cause, its main goal is to treat and cure the disabled person in order to improve on the self dependence of a person and normalcy life. Medical model of disability involves the cooperation of the patient and medical professional in treating the disability. Medical model of disability is critical to the disabled rights and civil rights (Tassoni, 2003). It can be trusted in defining disability for a person to get social support. It suffers criticism from the social model of disability and it is seen as a way of sympathizing with disabled people, which is referred as unintended social degradation of disabled people. Reference List Alder et al, (2009). Psychology And Sociology Applied To Medicine. New York: Routledge. Burkhauser, R. Daly, M. (2002). United States Disability Policy in a Changing Environment. Journal of Economic Perspective. Emerso, E. (1995). Challenging Behavior: Analysis and Intervention with People with Learning Difficulties. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Hauritz, M. (1998). Justice for People with Disabilities; Legal Institute Issues. New York: Federation press. Laslei F Anita S, (2000). Americans with Disabilities. New York: Routledge. Neef, N. (2001). The Past and Future of Behavior Analysis in Developmental Disabilities: When Good News is bad and Bad News is good. The Behavior Analyst Today. Parens, E. (2006). Surgical Shaping Children.Technology, Ethics and the Pursuit of Normality. New York: JHU press Scrambler, G. (2008). Sociology As Applied T o Medicine. New York: Elsevier health science. Tassoni, et al, (2005). Children’s Care, Learning and Development. California: Heinemann. Tassoni, P. (2003). Supporting Special Need; Understanding Inclusion in the Early Years. California: Hinemann

Definition of Luddites

Definition of Luddites The Luddites were weavers in England in the early 19th century who were being put out of work by the introduction of machinery. They responded in dramatic fashion by organizing to attack and smash the new machines. The term Luddite is generally used today to describe someone who does not like, or does not comprehend, new technology, especially computers. But the actual Luddites, while they did attack machines, were not mindlessly opposed to any and all progress. The Luddites were actually rebelling against a profound change in their way of life and their economic circumstances. One could argue that the Luddites have gotten a bad rap. They were not stupidly attacking the future. And even when they did physically attack machinery, they showed a skill for effective organization.   And their crusade against the introduction of machinery was based on a reverence for traditional work. That may seem quaint, but the reality is that early machines used the textile industries produced work that was inferior to the traditional hand-crafted fabrics and garments. So some Luddite objections were based on a concern for quality workmanship. The outbreaks of Luddite violence in England began in late 1811 and escalated throughout the following months. By the spring of 1812, in some regions of England, attacks on machinery were occurring nearly every night. Parliament reacted by making destruction of machinery a capital crime and by the end of 1812 a number of Luddites had been arrested and executed. The Name Luddite Has Mysterious Roots The most common explanation of the name Luddite is that it is based on a boy named Ned Ludd who broke a machine, either on purpose or through clumsiness, in the 1790s. The story of Ned Ludd was told so often that to break a machine became known, in some English villages, to behave like Ned Ludd, or to do like Ludd. When the weavers who were being put out of work began to strike back by smashing machines, they said they were following the orders of General Ludd. As the movement spread they became known as Luddites. At times the Luddites sent letters or posted proclamations signed by the mythical leader General Ludd. The Introduction of Machines Outraged the Luddites Skilled workers, living and working in their own cottages, had been producing woolen cloth for generations. And the introduction of shearing frames in the 1790s began to industrialize the work. The frames were essentially several pairs of hand shears placed onto a machine which was operated by one man turning a crank. A single man at a shearing frame could do the work that had previously been done by a number of men cutting fabric with hand shears. Other devices to process wool came into use in the first decade of the 19th century. And by 1811 many textile workers realized that their very way of life was being threatened by the machines which could do the work faster. The Origins of the Luddite Movement The beginning of organized Luddite activity is often traced to an event in November 1811, when a group of weavers armed themselves with improvised weapons. Using hammers and axes, the men broke into a workshop in the village of Bulwell determined to smash frames, the machines used to shear wool. The incident turned violent when men guarding the workshop fired at the attackers, and the Luddites fired back. One of the Luddites was killed. Machines used in the emerging wool industry had been smashed before, but the incident at Bulwell raised the stakes considerably. And actions against machines began to accelerate. In December 1811, and into the early months of 1812, late-night attacks on machines continued in parts of the English countryside. Parliaments Reaction to the Luddites In January 1812 the British government sent 3,000 troops into the English Midlands in an effort to suppress Luddite attacks on machinery. The Luddites were being taken very seriously. In February 1812 the British Parliament took up the issue and began debating whether to make machine breaking an offense punishable by capital punishment. During the Parliamentary debates, one member of the House of Lords, Lord Byron, the young poet, spoke out against making frame breaking a capital crime. Lord Byron was sympathetic to the poverty which faced unemployed weavers, but his arguments did not change many minds. In early March 1812 frame breaking was made a capital offense. In other words, the destruction of machinery, specifically the machines that turned wool into cloth, was declared a crime on the same level as murder and could be punished by hanging. The British Militarys Response to the Luddites An improvised army of about 300 Luddites attacked a mill in the village of Dumb Steeple, England, in early April 1811. The mill had been fortified, and two Luddites were shot dead in a short battle in which the barricaded doors of the mill could not be forced open. The size of the attacking force led to rumors about a widespread uprising. By some reports there were guns and other weapons being smuggled in from Ireland, and there was a genuine fear that the entire countryside would rise up in rebellion against the government. Against that backdrop, a large military force commanded by General Thomas Maitland, who had previously put down rebellions in British colonies in India and the West Indies, was directed to end the Luddite violence. Informers and spies led to arrests of a number of Luddites throughout the summer of 1812. Trials were held at York in late 1812, and 14 Luddites were publicly hanged. Luddites convicted of lesser offenses were sentenced to punishment by transportation, and were sent to British penal colonies in Tasmania. The widespread Luddite violence came to an end by 1813, though there would be other outbreaks of machine breaking. And for several years public unrest, including riots, were linked to the Luddite cause. And, of course, the Luddites were not able to stop the influx of machinery. By the 1820s mechanization had essentially taken over the woolen trade, and later in the 1800s manufacture of cotton cloth, using very complex machinery, would be a major British industry. Indeed, by the 1850s machines were lauded. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 millions of excited spectators came to the Crystal Palace to watch new machines turn raw cotton into finished fabric.