Increased emphasis is being placed on providing integrated and normalizing work experiences for people with severe disabilities through supported employment. As more individuals are offered training in nonsheltered situations, it is important to consider the nature of the typical environments they will be moving into and the elements of work that make it a meaningful and satisfying experience for typical workers. The literature on supported employment has been primarily concerned with outcome studies of demonstration projects, the efficacy of training strategies, and the development of administrative structures and funding systems. In contrast, studies of work for nondisabled individuals have focused on job satisfaction and what the experience means to the worker, and for the most part have ignored those who have disabilities. This review examines supported employment in light of the literature on the experience of work by nondisabled people, with particular reference to the meaning of work in the lives of persons with disabilities. There is discussion of worker satisfaction, the meaning of pay, the effect of the task itself, and the role of the culture of the workplace on the behavior of the workers. Implications for the establishment of supported employment opportunities in typical businesses are presented.
BellamyG. T.RhodesL. E.WilcoxB.AlbinJ. M.MankD. M.BolesS. M.HornerR. H.CollinsM.TurnerJ. (1984). Quality and equality in employment services for adults with severe disabilities. The Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 9, 270–277.
2.
BlaunerR. (1966). Worker satisfaction and industrial trends in modern society. In BendixR.LipsetS. M. (Eds.), Class status and power: Social stratification in comparative perspective (pp. 473–487). New York: The Free Press.
3.
BogdanR.TaylorS. J. (1982). Inside out: The meaning of mental retardation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
4.
BolesS. M.BellamyG. T.HornerR. H.MankD. M. (1984). Specialized training program: The structured employment model. In PaineS. C.BellamyG. T.WilcoxB. (Eds.), Human services that work: From innovation to standard practice (pp. 181–208). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
5.
BrownL.ShiragaB.FordA.NisbetJ.VanDeventerP.SweetM.YorkJ.LoomisR. (1986). Teaching severely handicapped students to perform meaningful work in nonsheltered vocational environments. In MorrisR.BlattB. (Eds.), Special education: Research and trends (pp. 131–189). New York: Pergamon.
6.
BrownL.ShiragaB.YorkJ.KesslerK.StrohmB.RoginP.SweetM.ZanellaK.VanDeventerP.LoomisR. (1984). Integrated work opportunities for adults with severe handicaps: The extended training option. The Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 9, 262–269.
7.
BurkhauserR. V.HavemanR. H. (1982). Disability and work: The economics of American policy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
8.
ChinoyE. (1955). The automobile worker and the American dream. Garden City: Doubleday.
9.
ConteL. (1983). Sheltered employment and disabled citizens: Analysis of the work stations in industry model (Doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, 1982). Dissertation Abstracts International, 43, 2976A.
10.
DaltonM. (1959). Men who manage: Fusions of feeling and theory in administration. New York: Wiley.
11.
DawisR. V. (1984). Job satisfaction: Worker aspirations, attitudes and behavior. In N. C. Gysbers & Assoc., Designing careers: Counseling to enhance education, work and leisure (pp. 275–301). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
12.
EdgertonR. B. (1967). The cloak of competence: Stigma in the lives of the mentally retarded. Berkeley: University of California Press.
13.
Federal Register. (1987, October 29). Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act Amendment of 1987. P. L. 100–146, Section 102 (14) (A) (B).
14.
FriedmannG. (1964). The anatomy of work: Labor, leisure and the implications of automation. New York: Free Press of Glencoe.
15.
Greenleigh Associates, Inc. (1975). The role of the sheltered workshop in the rehabilitation of the severely handicapped. New York: Report to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Rehabilitation Services Administration.
16.
GreenspanS.ShoultzB. (1981). Why mentally retarded adults lose their jobs: Social competence as a factor in work adjustment. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 2, 23–38.
17.
GrunebergM. M. (1979). Understanding job satisfaction. New York: Wiley.
18.
GyllenhammerP. G. (1977). People at work. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
19.
HackmanJ. R.LawlerE. E. (1971). Employee reactions to job characteristics [Monograph]. Journal of Applied Psychology, 55, 259–286.
20.
HagnerD.ComoP. (1982). Work stations in industry: An alternative for the training and employment of handicapped individuals. Materials Development Center, Stout Vocational Rehabilitation Institute, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI.
21.
HagnerD.NisbetJ.CallahanM.MoseleyC. (1987). Payment, mechanisms for community employment of workers with severe disabilities: Realities and recommendations. The Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 12(1), 45–52.
22.
HalleD. (1984). America's working man: Work, home and politics among blue collar property owners. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
23.
HanamiT. (1979). Labor relations in Japan today. New York: Kodansha International Ltd.
24.
HertzbergF.MausnerB.SnydermanB. (1959). The motivation to work. New York: Wiley.
25.
HillM.HillJ.WehmanP.RevellG.DickensonA.NobleJ. (1985). Time limited training and supported employment: A model for redistributing existing resources for persons with severe disabilities. In WehmanP.HillJ. W. (Eds.), Competitive employment for persons with mental retardation: From research to practice (pp. 134–168). Richmond, VA: Virginia Commonwealth University.
26.
HillM.WehmanP. (1983). Cost benefit analysis of placing moderately and severely handicapped individuals into competitive employment. The Journal of The Association for the Severely Handicapped, 8, 30–38.
27.
HodgsonA.BurdenD. (1979). Job satisfaction in the civil service in the United Kingdom. In van BernumH. (Ed.), Working on the quality of working life: Developments in Europe (pp. 277–287). Boston: Martinus Nijhoff.
28.
HopkinsA. H. (1983). Work and job satisfaction in the public sector. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allenheld.
29.
HoppockR. (1935). Job satisfaction. New York: Harper & Row.
30.
HughesE. C. (1958). Men and their work. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
31.
JohnsonW. G.LambrinosJ. (1985). Wage discrimination against handicapped men and women. Journal of Human Resources, 20, 265–277.
32.
KohnM. L.SchoolerC. (1978). The reciprocal effects of the substantive complexity of work and intellectual flexibility: A longitudinal assessment. American Journal of Sociology, 82, 24–52.
33.
KoshiroK. (1983). The quality of working life in Japanese factories. In ShiraiT. (Ed.), Contemporary labor relations in Japan (pp. 63–88). Madison: University of Wiscons in Press.
34.
KrauseM.MacEachronA. (1982). Competitive employment training for mentally retarded adults: The supported work model. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 86, 650–653.
35.
LeMastersE. E. (1975). Blue collar aristocrats: Life styles at a working class tavern. Madison: University of Wiscons in Press.
36.
LevitanS. A.JohnsonC. M. (1983). The survival of work. In BarbashJ.LampmanR. J.LevitanS. A.TylerG. (Eds.), The work ethic—A critical analysis (pp. 1–25). Industrial Relations Research Association. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
37.
LockeE. A. (1983). The nature and causes of job satisfaction. In DunnetteM. D. (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1297–1349). Chicago: Rand McNally.
38.
MaslowA. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.
39.
MaslowA. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed). New York: Harper & Row.
40.
McAffeeJ. K. (1986). The handicapped worker and job satisfaction. Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Bulletin, 19, 23–27.
41.
MoseleyC. R. (1987). The meaning of work for persons with severe disabilities: A qualitative study of supported employment. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
42.
PalmerG. L.ParnesH. S.WilcockR. C.HermanM. W.BrainardC. P. (1962). The reluctant job changer: Studies in work attachments and aspirations. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
43.
RevellG.WehmanP.ArnoldS. (1985). Supported work model of competitive employment for mentally retarded persons: Implications for rehabilitative services. In WehmanP.HillJ. W. (Eds.), Competitive employment for persons with mental retardation: From research to practice (pp. 46–64). Richmond: Virginia Commonwealth University.
44.
RoethlisbergerF. J.DicksonW. J. (1939). Management and the worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
45.
RoyD. (1959). Banana time: Job satisfaction and informal interaction. Human Organization, 18 (Winter), 158–168.
RubinL. B. (1976). Worlds of pain. New York: Basic Books.
48.
RuschF. R.WeithersJ. A.MenchettiB. M.SchutzR. P. (1980). Social validation of a program to reduce topic repetition in a nonsheltered setting. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 15, 208–215.
49.
SchutzR. P.JostesK. F.RuschF. R.LamsonD. S. (1980). Acquisition, transfer and social validation of two vocational skills in competitive employment settings. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 15, 306–311.
50.
ScottA. J.WilliamsJ. M.StoutJ. K.DeckerT. W. (1980). Field investigations and evaluation of learning disabilities. Scranton, PA: University of Scranton Press.
51.
SeltzerM. M. (1984). Patterns of job satisfaction among mentally handicapped adults. Applied Research in Mental Retardation, 5, 147–149.
52.
ShaferM. (1986). Utilizing coworkers as change agents. In RuschF. (Ed.), Competitive employment issues and strategies (pp. 215–224). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
53.
SowersJ.ThompsonR.ConnisR. (1979). The food services vocational training program. In BellamyG. T.O'ConnorG.KarenO. C. (Eds.), Vocational rehabilitation of severely handicapped persons (pp. 181–205). Baltimore: University Park Press.
54.
TerkelS. (1972). Working: People talk about what they do all day and what they feel about what they do. New York: Pantheon.
55.
TurnerJ. L. (1984). Ethnographic observations in a work setting for retarded adults. In EdgertonR. B.BegabM. J. (Eds.), Ethnological perspectives in mental retardation (pp. 147–171). Baltimore: University Park Press.
56.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1979). Sheltered workshop study: Vol. II. Study of handicapped clients in sheltered workshops and recommendations of the secretary. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.
57.
VanfossenB. E. (1979). The structure of personal inequality. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
58.
WackerD. P.BergW. K. (1986). Generalizing and maintaining work behavior. In RuschF. R. (Ed.), Competitive employment issues and strategies (pp. 129–140). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
59.
WalshE. J. (1982). Prestige, work satisfaction and alienation: comparisons among garbagemen, professors, and other work groups. Work and Occupations, 9, 475–496.
60.
WehmanP. (1981). Competitive employment: New horizons for severely disabled individuals. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
61.
WehmanP. (1986). Competitive employment in Virginia. In RuschF. R. (Ed.), Competitive employment issues and strategies (pp. 23–33). Baltmore: Paul H. Brookes.
62.
WehmanP.KregelJ. (1985). A supported work approach to competitive employment of individuals with moderate and severe handicaps. The Journal of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 10, 3–11.
63.
WehmanP.MoonM. S. (1985). Critical values in employment programs for persons with developmental disabilities. In WehmanP.HillJ. W. (Eds.), Competitive employment for persons with mental retardation: From research to practice (pp. 2–19). Richmond: Virginia Commonwealth University.
64.
Work in America. (1973). Report of a special task force to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
