Stigma and Discrimination (Part 2)

measuring stereotypes and discrimination

It is really challenging trying to measure stereotypes (people often don’t disclose their biases, or their true opinions on stereotypes and discrimination)

Canadians

half of canadians accept job disability discrimination

• understandable if an employer thinks it’s too risky to hire someone with a physical disability

proportion and number of complaints received from 2009 to 2013 by jurisdiction and disability status

50% of the complaints are related to disabilities

mobility disabilities (2017)

2.7 million Canadians 15 years and older (9.6%) have a mobility disability

• restriction in their participation due to environments not being accessible 19.7%

mobility disabilities among canadians aged 15+ (2012)

working age adults (15 to 64) with mobility disabilities had overall lower levels of educational attainment than those who did not have any type of disability

• 32% or 1/3 of people said that they do feel excluded due to their disability

canadian data

people without disability are more likely to be employed in all age ranges

• large portion of all discrimination complaints are disability related

• nearly 1/5 of employed adults with a mobility disability indicated that their employer was unaware of their condition

• 54% feels employer considers them disadvantaged

• 52% feels disadvantaged

PSD

physical or sensory disability

• physical: having an amputated limb, cerebral palsy, etc.

• sensory: visual and hearing impariments

PSD: concelable

PSD

• blindness, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis

• fear of being discovered may influence level of stigmatization

• may play a minor role in visible conditions

• favours feelings of guilt, shame, and anxiety for those who have a non-visible condition and who hide their “real body”

PSD: course of the mark

PSD

• that is progressive in nature

• when the person faces more limitations and has more apparent symptomology = possibility of increased stigmatization

PSD: origin

PSD

• that are perceived as inevitable and uncontrollable

  • positive response of observers (“us”)

• that are provoked by the person with PSD, due to negligent behaviours

  • negative reactions, rejecting and hostile towards “them”

PSD: disruptiveness

PSD

• perceived stigma is directly and positively associated to the level of interference with verbal and physical communication

• increased interference = increased stigma

• link with concealable and course of the mark

PSD: aesthetics

PSD

• direct link with concealable

• individuals with disability or disfiguring illness are universally avoided

• “us” = visceral sensory response of discomfort, threat to body image, anxiety

• PSD + unpleasing aesthetics may provoke stigmatizing reactions (rejection/avoidance)

PSD: peril

PSD

• more associated to psychiatric conditions

• if visible + severe: generates reminder of serious vulnerability and mortality

• life is unpredictable and uncontrollable

• leads to uneasiness, anxiety, and the need for social distance (for “us”)

PSD: stigma

PSD

• public stigma: continues to constrict their opportunities to integrate and participate fully in community life

• reduce with research to change negative attitudes with legislation for people in situations of disability

goal of Fraser study

examine how the media contributes to create and maintain ageist stereotypes in relation to the double sensory loss and technical aids

• why: if there is a public stigma of older adults in relation to technical aid use, it could reduce help-seeking and use of technical aids

Canadian newspapers

1. The Globe and Mail

2. La Presse

4 contexts

1. autonomy

2. help-seeking

3. employment

4. politics

stereotypes (older adults…)

1. are incompetent

   4. are vulnerable

*most frequently found (likely that #4 is number 1)

autonomy context

context

1. concealable

   • recognize the importance of technical aids, but don’t want others to know

2. course of the mark

   • deterioration of health conditions lead to dependence

3. irony

   • technical aids can facilitate autonomy, but people are afraid of discrimination

help-seeking context

context

• presentation by media: changes in health are “normal”

• no need for treatment or help (if it is considered normal)

• erroneous perception of those who seek help

employment context

context

• dichotomy

• “older workers rock”

• but changes in health are probably a weight on the company and the “special needs” must be accommodated

• possibility that older adults hide their changes in health for fear of discrimination

politics context

context

• older adults are presented as a weight on the health system that must be resolved

• vulnerable “us”/ we must take care of “them”

“triple whammy”

1. ageing

2. changes in health

3. using technical aids

high possibility for many stereotypes and discrimination