Social Policies and Disability Discrimination Introduction

Social policies are those guidelines, activities, legislation and principles that have a direct effect on the welfare of the lives of human beings in a particular society. These social policies are generally the structures through which communal interaction and integration takes place via (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010:11). They are instrumental in how a society is perceived, that is whether a society is considered to be discriminatory or accommodating in nature. It is a fact that any society’s human rights development and democracy in terms of the existence of freedom of association, press or speech is directly related to the legislations and policies that are in place, either in a written constitution or a bill of rights and the willingness of the government and citizenry to implement these provisions i.e. social policies.

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Social policies are only as good as the positive effects that they have on the society. For the purposes of this paper, emphasis is laid on the aspects of social policies that aim to address social discrepancies and disparities that exist in the society in terms of discrimination. The main challenge that is faced by any developed society is the perception of the existence of unfair and unjust access to resources and opportunities. Most of these uneven accesses are either perpetrated by design, largely due to poor legislation on matters to addressing social injustices, or by default through legislation that is skewed negatively towards disadvantaged members of the society. Among the most disadvantaged members of society in the United Kingdom are minority races, the poor and the disabled (Hardy et al, 2011:13). The disabled find the going to be particularly tough especially in access of basic services where the difficulties of physical access are compounded further by apparent lack of understanding and consideration by other members of the society. The situation is worse of for disabled individuals who in addition to their physical disabilities also happen to come from a minority group and are also poor.

To best understand the challenges that are faced by social workers during the course of carrying out their duties of the enactment of various social policies, this paper takes a special look at discrimination that is based on disability. According to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, a person suffering from disability is described as “a person who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.” The reality of the matter is that the UK, just like any other nation, is faced by the challenges of standardizing services and opportunities for its entire populace regardless of age, gender, race or physical inadequacies. The British government in an effort to safeguard the rights of the disabled and ensure that this segment of their society gets fair treatment in places of work and schools has enacted many policies and legislation. Some of the most far reaching and effective of these legislations are the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010.

Challenges Faced by People Living with Disabilities

Discrimination

Disability in itself without doubt comes with many challenges, chief among being the discrimination by society. According to the WHO Europe, discrimination is defined as:

The unfair treatment that arises from making any distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences that has the purposes or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by all persons, on an equal footing, of all rights and freedom (2008:2).

This discrimination that is perpetrated against the disabled is not always intentional and direct in nature; sometimes it originates from the care givers and close families of those suffering from disability. A parent may, for instance in an effort to protect their offspring from public ridicule especially in the case of mental illness, lock up and restrict the movement of their children from outside the homestead. Without intending to, the parent is in effect also discriminating the child based on their disability (Barnes, 2007:22).

Other forms of discrimination are more upfront and it is these forms that attract the interest of social workers. Cases have been reported whereby school heads and admission boards openly discriminate against the physically disabled students especially when it comes to giving scholarships. Schools are notorious for giving precedence to extra-curricular activities when it comes to their scholarships. The end result is that in a case where a disabled and a physically fit student score near identical results in an entry level exam, in most cases than not, the physically fit student ends up getting the nod because he or she is considered as being able to give ‘more’ to the school in other sectors. These practices have led to many activists agitating for further affirmative action by oversight bodies so as to ensure that gifted and qualified individuals are not locked out solely due to their physical shortcomings (Stalland, 2009:71).

Equal opportunity

Another challenge that is closely linked to discrimination is that of lack of equal opportunities for the disabled (The Equality Act 2010). Despite the several legislations and policies that aim at establishing and guaranteeing equality of all persons under the law, the reality is that this is seldom the case. Opportunities for the disabled, whether in the work place or educational institutions, are generally few and are indeed very far between. When it comes down to it, it is generally the disability aspect that normally locks out individuals out of well deserved opportunities. Mostly this is due to the fact that employers, in the case of jobs, are not keen to add to their workforce a person whom they consider to be of ‘extra needs’ and will allegedly look for and exploit any loop holes during recruitment so as to ensure that they lock out disabled individuals during the commencement stage of the recruitment exercise. The main challenge social workers face in this regard is trying to convince profit-minded executives to stick to affirmative action during their recruitments.

Social exclusion

Social exclusion is a direct result of discrimination and lack of equal opportunities. It often affects the person with the disability most as they feel that the society as a whole has deliberately turned their backs on them (Barnes, 2007:18). In the case of mental health disability, the case of social exclusion is so severe that it can hamper recovery efforts of patients especially in cases where the patient was initially perfectly healthy. An example is that of an individual who suffers stroke and ends up suffering mental damage, in the process loosing his or her employment due to their diminished capacity. This individual will find it hard to cope with their present situation. This is especially in cases where suddenly an outgoing individual now finds themselves confined or shifting in and out of healthcare institutions with the lives of their colleagues going on unabated. In such cases it is imperative for social workers such as counselors to step in order to prevent the individuals from stepping into depression which would further hamper any form of future recovery. In such cases the individual will require a strong support system that will ensure that they seamlessly adapt to their harsh realities by giving them other options through which they can feel useful and part of the society again.

Stigma

The genesis of stigma is mostly poor understanding by the public when it comes to issues relating to the disabled. In order to best implement social policies that aim at eliminating discrimination of the disabled in the society, the issue of stigma eradication should be the main goal of any social work geared toward the thorough enactment of these policies. What stigma does is that is gives room for a drop in integration of the society due to the various differences in the physical abilities of different individuals, with the physically ‘fit’ individuals avoiding the disabled. The result of this avoidance is the continual isolation, rejection and discrimination of the disabled in the society and making the disparities that they face harder (Stalland, 2009:33).

The thing about stigma is that most of it is based on negative perceptions that have been perpetuated over years and have served to make the public believe as being the real case. Some of the misleading perceptions that have been engineered over the years and are helping to fuel stigmatization are the notions that physically disabled individuals are lazy. This is a perception that has ensured that even with the enactment of affirmative action legislation, employers are still hesitant to hire disabled people as they feel that these individuals do not have value for money (Barnes, 2007:20). The effect of this negative perception is that even in cases where the disabled are hired, they are not usually trusted with sensitive work and are instead just kept in the fringes of the workplace.

The implications of discrimination for Social Work

The task of implementing most of the laws and policies on capping discrimination is tasked to social workers. What affects the efficiency of any social work is the ability by a worker to personalize his or her duties (Social Care Institute for Excellence 2010). In addition to being personal in their duties, social workers should have self determination and more importantly have respect for the persons that they care for. In terms of social exclusion, social workers sometimes end up inadvertently perpetrating the vice by not including, in their consultative frameworks, disabled persons, especially in the case of mental disability, and instead just include experts. This very act serves to exclude the disabled persons from a very important task that directly affects them, thus effectively practicing social exclusion against persons they strive to protect. At the heart of all stigma and discriminatory practices is the issue of poverty. On account of their financial basis, the discrimination that plagues the poor is more significant. Since it is mostly the poor who need most of the services of social workers, it goes without saying that any work that is performed by the social workers should be aimed at also addressing stigma and exclusion towards the poor in society.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995

The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 officially came into effect on December of 1996. The act was necessitated by the need to address the persistent inequalities that existed in the country, especially in the education and employment sectors with regards to the disabled individuals (Barnes, 2007:16). The law was in part influenced by the passage of a similar legislation back in 1990 in America known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Other than the similarity to the American law, British scholars had over time emphasized on the need to bring all members of the society into the fold of economic generation, be they disabled or otherwise (Koning, 2007:141). The best way to do this was by being able to guarantee the disabled equal rights in employment by the use of legislation, thus there was a need to pass an anti-discrimination law in the country. The main aim of this law was to avail to disabled people additional legal rights and protection in the workplace so as to efficiently harvest their potential while at the same time taking into account their needs and requirements.

The main aim of the law, as of November 8, 1995, was to make it illegal and unlawful for disabled people to be discriminated against with regards to employment, provision of facilities, goods and services or in the management and disposal of premises. It also aimed to provide a special legal provision for disabled personnel employment via the establishment of the National Disability Council, (Disability Discrimination Act, 1995). The legislation had eight parts with the first defining disability, the second, third, fourth and fifth parts dealt with discrimination in employment, other areas such as parks and social places, education and public transportation respectively. The establishment of the National Disability Council is found in part six while part seven deals with supplemental issues. The eighth part handled the miscellaneous bits of the legislation. The law was to be enacted via eight schedules, which among other things took into consideration past disabilities, premises that were being occupied under lease, enforcement of the legislation, and finally the means and procedures of repeals and future modification of the Act.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act of 2010 is without question the most far reaching piece of legislation by the UK government which aimed to establish an equal opportunity state whereby all individuals have equally guaranteed rights and opportunities under the law to access basic facilities, goods and services without any bias, favor or discrimination. The Equality Act draws most of its inspiration from the EU directives on equal treatment from which most of the provisions are based on the EU resolutions on equality. The legislation was put in place in order to come up with a streamlined and integrated legal framework that took into consideration all British antidiscriminatory laws that had been passed before (Koning, 2007:142). Among the laws that the Act consolidates into it framework are the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act of 1970, Race Relations Act of 1976, and the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975. The legislation in addition to these previous acts also considers the legal instruments that protect against employee discrimination based on age, religion or sexual orientation.

The Act is divided into fifteen parts, all of which come into effect during different periods depending on other complementary legislations and amendments that have to be carried out before overall implementation. From the onset of the act, the legislature recognizes the effect of the continued socio-economic inequalities that despite major efforts still continue to exist. The second part deals exclusively with the key concepts regarding how different individuals can be discriminated against and it is here that the issues of individuals with disability are first highlighted. Part five deals with the workplace and other issues to do with employment, pension schemes and equality in employment terms during recruitment. Part six examines inequality in the educational institutions from basic education to higher education and how education bodies enforce qualification criteria. However, it is part 12 and 13 that deals with discrimination of the disabled in public by putting into place measures to accommodate their safe transportation in public service vehicles by customizing the vehicles to be disabled-friendly.

Effectiveness of these Laws and the Need for Policies and Legislation

It is difficult to quantify exactly the effect of these laws in the shaping of public opinion and influence on social policies. The stand out thing, however, is the fact that without such legislation as the Disability Discrimination Act and the Equality Act, the discrimination towards the disabled in the UK and the resulting inequalities could be worse (Shah, 2008:75). Social workers in government institutions such as the National Disability Council and other social welfare organizations would find it extremely difficult in convincing, for instance, employers to hire disabled personnel (Higham, 2006:5). But with persistence in the oversight of these policies and constant amendments of policies to meet changing times and increased academic research undertakings on measurements of these policies, they will no doubt serve to show the positive effect of these laws, albeit still with no solid measurement framework.

Despite the lack of a means of quantifying effects of social policies on discrimination, there are clear evidences that show exactly how the universal inclusion of all individuals to the societal functioning help in shaping the mitigation and spread of further discrimination (Stalland, 2009:28). To this effect, an example is in the open discussion of mental health and disability which has reduced the stigma that was previously associated with the condition. The stigma and embarrassment that sufferers feared was hampering any meaningful measures that were being undertaken to address the problem (Venter et al, 2002:10). The effect of poor information by both patients and the public made it virtually impossible for a person suffering from mental illness to get a job. Even after recovery following successful treatment, employers still expressed high degrees of skepticism in even considering hiring someone with mental illness history. The main fear was that stigma had made it that employers felt that a relapse was always possible despite a person being under sufficient medical care.

In order to further improve the quality of life for the disabled, many more steps similar to that of fixing disability ramps on public service vehicles have to be taken (Venter et al, 2002:26).

Just as envisioned in the Equality Act 2010 where also residential and commercial buildings are required to have access routes that cater for disabled persons, more has to be done in order to encourage the society to willingly participate in discrimination eradication measures; not just because it is a legal requirement but also because there is a public understanding on the importance of integrating everyone to the processes of society. To do this, for instance, policies that extend tax breaks such as subsidized access to resources for those schools that actively promote ease and understanding for its disabled students should be looked into (D'Alessio 2011:54).

The Role of Social Workers in the Enactment of Social Policies

It is the responsibility of social workers to go into the field and check the effectiveness and efficiency of any social policies that have been enacted (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010:33).

By going to the field, positive feedback can be obtained from the necessary bodies and organizations that have been tasked with the implementation and oversight of anti-discriminatory laws. This flow of feedback results in better policy shaping by necessary adjustments in terms of amendments which are tailor-made in order to address the challenges that may be facing the implementation of the law (Higham, 2006:7). With regard to the Disability Discrimination Act, Her Majesty the Queen’s government set in place a social engagement instrument in the shape of the National Disability Council to track the implementation of the law.

Another important role is for the social workers to organize social forums and workshops whereby various academic scholars and research institutions are encouraged to do research into effectiveness of anti-discriminatory laws on various sections of the society (Stalland, 2009:14).

This integration of policy makers and researchers makes for a better way of dealing with the challenges faced by the disabled. For example in the UK on matters to do with mental health, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been organizing the RCN Learning Disability Forum whereby various mental health sector experts come together to discuss the various challenges that face children with disability in terms of accessing quality education. The results of their consultative discussions are then published at the end of the forum by a panel of experts who analyze and harmonize the presentations and release a document (Hardy et al, 2011:i). It is indeed the contents of such documents that policy makers use as a guide during enactment and subsequent amendments of the various equality laws.

Conclusion

Discrimination is a challenge that the UK citizenry has been facing for a long time now in its history. However, since the later part of the mid 20th century, more emphasis has been on the continued uphill task of discrimination that the disabled have been facing. The challenges to the disabled were very significant in terms of a systematic disadvantage when it came to opportunities in the workplace and in educational institutions. It is for these reasons that the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 was passed; however, shortcomings in the legislation and implementation of the various social policies under it necessitated the harmonization of the various related legislations to come up with the Equality Act 2010. The continual participation of social workers and various experts in the field of disabled discrimination has ensured that now the effect of the new law has resulted in the disabled having more access to opportunities and more user friendly access to transportation and infrastructure. The reason for this paradigm shift in national ideology is without doubt due to the efforts of social workers in various state and private institutions in creating positive public awareness.

List of References

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