Abstract
This article has validity for our field since blind people represent a cross section of the varied cultural groups that make up America. It is important for practitioners to understand the mores, folkways and social institutions of the people they serve. What variations in reaction to blindness may be expected from individuals who have roots in Puerto Rico, or Poland or China, or Mexico or Ireland?
More provocative is the question: Do “the blind” constitute a subculture in our society? A subculture has been described as follows: “Every society is internally differentiated into numerous subgroups, each with ways of thinking and doing that are in some respects peculiarly its own, that one can acquire only by participating in these subgroups and that one can scarcely help acquiring if he is a full-fledged participant.”
Would it then follow that blind persons who, in their employment or in their social activities, are associated almost exclusively with other persons who are blind do tend to become members of a subculture?
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