Psychology and Developing Societies

Social perspective on disability affirms that a large number of persons with disabilities struggle to lead a normal life because of stereotypical attitudes, social stigma, discrimination and neglect. Various socio-cultural conditions also interact with different types of disability in a complex manner to make the overall life qualitatively different. The critical issue is that the interface of disability with other social identities is more likely to compound problem, which by and large is overlooked. With the recognition that understanding the intersections of multiple forms of dis-crimination has a powerful human rights dimension and greater social significance for inclusion, this article is an attempt to examine the interface of disability and caste on living conditions of persons with disabilities. Drawing on data primarily from the latest National Sample Survey, the article throws light on the circumstances of the persons with disabilities across social groups, with a special focus on Dalits (scheduled castes) with disabilities. It is revealed that despite several special interventions for the social integration of dalits and persons with disabilities, dalits with disabilities are doubly disadvantaged. The article argues for the preferential support services and socio-psychological interventions for the group within the larger framework of inclusiveness.

This article presents findings of two studies that investigated coping with physical disability within the multivariate transactional model of stress. In the first study, 30 persons with locomotor disability were interviewed to explore the nature of stressors and coping strategies. In the second study, five scales were administered on a sample of 120 persons with locomotor disability to investigate the role of personal and situational variables in determining the extent of perceived distress and its relationship with coping. The manner in which anāsakti and positive life orientation moderated the relationship between perceived distress and coping was also investigated. The findings revealed that the major stressors which led to distress were ego-related stressors, inability to fulfil traditional gender roles, problems in interpersonal relationships with family and others, physical barriers and deformed body image. Education was found to be the strongest predictor of perceived distress and problem-focused coping was significantly related to lower levels of distress. Moderation analyses showed that with stronger belief in the philosophy of anāsakti and higher positive life orientation, lower levels of distress were strongly related to problem focused coping. The impli-cations of these findings for psycho-social rehabilitation of persons with physical disability are discussed.

Zambia’s national policy on the formal education of children with special educational needs (CSEN) began to evolve following the completion of a nation-wide campaign to reach disabled children (ZNCRDC), which was spurred by the UN declaration of 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). The campaign generated epidemiological estimates of the prevalence of various types of disability among the population of basic school age (5–15 years), that showed that existing special educational provisions were reaching less than 10 per cent of those ascertained as severely disabled. The first phase of public policy focused on programmatic expansion in the 1980s of the number of units, located within the premises of existing basic schools, and offering specialised educational support to children with one particular broad type of disability (hearing, intellectual/learning, physical/mobility, or visual). This expansion programme was retarded by a number of fac-tors: resource constraints arising from a severe, national economic recession; refocusing of the principle of affirmative action to ensure equity to prioritise action to redress the disadvantages faced by girls (PAGE), and by children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic (OVC); and heightened emphasis on the principle of inclusion, which was often operationalised in the form of mainstreaming. Concurrently with the expansion of specialised units for CSEN, the quality of instruction and certification for specialist teachers was upgraded by the re-staffing and rehabilitation of the national college (LCTH/ZAMISE). Despite the enlarged output of qualified teachers from the College, staffing of CSEN units has remained problematic, largely due to poorly managed deployment of the college’s graduates. A recent shift in policy at the college in response to this problem has involved preparing graduates with skills to address the special educational needs of children with all four broad types of disabilities. Several lines of evidence are reviewed on these trends, including government policy documents and statistical reports, as well as a qualitative analysis of interviews with a sample of key informants. Major challenges currently faced by the government in attaining its policy objectives are itemised and some strategic options for addressing them are presented.

South Asian languages and literature offer many terms for mental retardation (MR), intellectual disability or cognitive impairment, with a range of concepts and meanings through three millennia of history. Responses to mental retardation are illustrated by stories from religious, medical, legal and psychological literature, translated from Sanskrit, Pali, Persian, Bengali and Tamil. These responses concern life stages and events such as pregnancy, birth and infancy, development of speech, social behaviour and play, entry and progress in education, and problems arising in these stages. More documentation is available on rulers’ sons, whose impairment might affect succession to the throne and other issues of legal status. Geographical conditions such as iodine deficiency are also implicated in mental retardation. The cumulative evidence raises many questions about appropriate responses in the present, and how human beings attribute value to others, or generate failure and low self-worth by flawed constructions. The riches of South Asian cultural history, and unexpected gifts from people with mental retardation, play their part in illuminating these issues.

Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) has grown and evolved over the last three decades, from being a service delivery approach for persons with disabilities living in rural areas in developing countries, to a world-wide accepted strategy and movement, based on inclusive community development principles. This article traces the origins and current understanding of CBR, goes on to discuss some of debates around the concept of CBR, and introduces the WHO CBR Guidelines. The Guidelines provide a structure for CBR planners and practitioners, based on a synthesis of CBR experiences from different regions of the world, and are an attempt to build on existing field level practice. The Guidelines demonstrate how CBR can be a useful strategy to achieve the goal of inclusive development for persons with disabilities. The Guidelines also provide a much needed framework for monitoring and evaluating CBR projects, with the increasing calls from around the world for strengthening the evidence base for CBR.