International Journal of Disability and Social Justice

Issue Number

Latest documents

• Abandoning ‘a Lifetime of Habits’ to Avoid the ‘Sins of the Past’

  While many studies have identified the problem of reproducing small institutions in community settings, few have explored why. This article explores how staff preserve and defend institutionalised beliefs and practices in community settings. We apply the concepts of disruptive and defensive institutional work to analyse the findings of qualitative interviews at six Irish residential institutions that were identified as priority sites for a national de-congregation programme. Reflecting on their roles, staff conceptualised their practices as historical, traditional, and reflective of a bygone era. However, the findings indicate that it would be misleading to represent institutional practices as relics of the past. The programme offered an olive branch for staff members who wanted to distance themselves from a ‘lifetime of habits’ and ‘sins of the past’.

• Human Rights Bulletin

  This bulletin considers the situation of children with disabilities in Ukraine, who at the time of the onset of the armed conflict were living in institutional care. DRI investigations have revealed that despite abundant international assistance, the government of Ukraine and international relief agencies have failed to ensure the safety and protect the lives of these children within institutions – or to ensure their safe return to families in the community.

• That Sinking Feeling

  This study examined the experiences of people with disabilities in general hospitals. Specifically, we identified and analysed the barriers and difficulties that people with disabilities face while hospitalised. Using qualitative methods, our findings were based on a combination of in-depth interviews and a focus group with twenty inpatients in total. Three major barriers to proper care arose from the transcripts: inaccessibility, practitioners’ lack of medical knowledge, and negative stereotypes. While some of the findings reinforce existing knowledge about barriers faced by people with disabilities, some address barriers that have not yet been investigated with qualitative instruments, such as lack of specific medical knowledge. In addition, the findings suggest the need to refer separately to physical and service accessibility, the latter including human service and communication. Practical recommendations include the need to upgrade healthcare accessibility regulations and ways to help people with disabilities receive equal health services during hospitalisation.

• Nothing About Us Without … Who? Disability Rights Organisations, Representation and Collaborative Governance

  When governments invite disability rights organisations to policy deliberations, how does the slogan ‘nothing about us without us’ translate into practice? This article draws upon a study about local disability organisations and their relationship to a regional consultative citizens’ council on disability issues in Sweden. Interviews were conducted with organisations that had seats on the council, politicians and officials on the council, as well as with disability organisations without seats on the council. Results show that conceptualisations of ‘disability’ in policies that regulate deliberations not only define what type of organisations are eligible for appointment to the council, but also influence how disability organisations identify, present themselves and what issues they advocate for – leading to divisions among organisations. The findings have implications for collaborative governance structures and disability rights organisations elsewhere – problematising issues around representation, institutionalisation of inclusion and the constantly evolving concept of what counts as ‘disability’.

• Contents
• Human Rights Bulletin

  In 2022 the UN CRPD Committee was informed about the disproportionate exposure of persons with disabilities to the risks engendered by military Russian aggression in Ukraine – risks such as poverty, violence, abandonment, injuries and death. This commentary provides an overview of the main issues identified.

• Disability and Other Human Questions by Dan Goodley (Emerald Publishing, 2021), 145pp.
• Forgotten People, Forgotten Places – Volume 2, Issue 2 Editorial
• International Journal of DISABILITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
• Does Policy Impact Equitable Access to Services? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Discharge Policies in Paediatric Rehabilitation

Featured documents

• Abandoning ‘a Lifetime of Habits’ to Avoid the ‘Sins of the Past’

  While many studies have identified the problem of reproducing small institutions in community settings, few have explored why. This article explores how staff preserve and defend institutionalised beliefs and practices in community settings. We apply the concepts of disruptive and defensive...

• Nothing About Us Without … Who? Disability Rights Organisations, Representation and Collaborative Governance

  When governments invite disability rights organisations to policy deliberations, how does the slogan ‘nothing about us without us’ translate into practice? This article draws upon a study about local disability organisations and their relationship to a regional consultative citizens’ council on...

• Quick Trust and Slow Time
• Toilet Signs as Border Markers: Exploring Disabled People's Access to Space

  Signs prescribing our permission to enter or abstain from specific places, such as those on toilet doors, mark murky borders between quasi-public and private space and have profound impacts upon our lives and identities. In this paper we draw on research which centred trans, queer and disabled...

• Spivak and Rethinking the Agency of Disabled Children

  Disability as a marginalised subject position is not conspicuous in Postcolonial Studies, although it does constitute a material presence and is a lived experience in the Global South. Disability Studies in the Global North often downplays social inequality and diversity that is a direct result of...

• That Sinking Feeling

  This study examined the experiences of people with disabilities in general hospitals. Specifically, we identified and analysed the barriers and difficulties that people with disabilities face while hospitalised. Using qualitative methods, our findings were based on a combination of in-depth...

• Disability, Justice and Freedom as Non-Domination

  Disability scholars have recently proposed that republican theory is relevant to think about justice in relation to disability. Following in their footsteps, this article submits that the republican conception of freedom as non-domination provides a fresh angle to legitimise disability rights in...

• Independent Living as a Counter-Narrative

  This article explores the concept of independent living as a counter-narrative. I argue that in addition to being both an aim for disabled people and a campaign objective for the global disabled people’s movement, independent living also acts as a narrative tool that opposes majoritarian social...

• Reflections on the Power of the Pen – Issue 2 Editorial
• Everyday Hate and Affective Possibility: Disabled People's Negotiations of Space, Place and Identity

  Although a universal conceptualisation of disability hate crime does not exist, it is widely agreed that hate ‘hurts’ more than other types of crime. This paper explores the diverse affects of hate crime and the various ways that these experiences can harm those who are targeted. Moving beyond this,...