scholarly journals The right to be Freepeople: Relational voluntary-assisted-advocacy as a psychological and ethical resource for decolonizing intellectual disability

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 556-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Capri ◽  
Leslie Swartz
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
South African ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Relational Ethics ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
The Right ◽  
Empirical Material

Participating in social activism implies responsibility for its exchange and creation. We focus on Intellectual Disability (ID) as an advocacy site for individuals who are dependent on assistance with activities of daily life, and attend to the process of taking care during social justice projects. Our paper responds to current South African social justice controversies perpetrated against people who may be unable to independently mobilize against increasingly othering – even deadly – socio-political conditions. Underpinned by relational Ethics of Care, voluntary-assisted-advocacy can be a psychologically relational, intersubjective, and societal project that strives for ID citizenship-making and social justice. This paper draws on numerous interviews and a number of ethnographic observations in exploration of ID care. Empirical material was subjected to thematic content analysis, and participant quotes bring our argument to life. Relationships among people with Intellectual Disability (PWID) and non-ID assistant-advocates are asymmetrical. We can either uphold dominant non-ID voices, or transform socio-political ruling relations that maintain dependence on conditions of power and inequality. Our contributions to the advocacy we co-create today will shape the activism we will depend on in the future. We consider relational voluntary-assisted-advocacy as a psychological and ethical resource for sustainable, mutually satisfying social change.

scholarly journals The validation of an educational database for children with profound intellectual disabilities

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlien Spangenberg ◽  
Lieselotte Corten ◽  
Winnie Van Rensburg ◽  
Elizma Kilian ◽  
Judith McKenzie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
South African ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Education Department ◽  
Right To Education ◽  
African Government ◽  
The Right

Background: The Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability took the South African Government to court in 2010 on its failure to implement the right to education for Children with Severe and Profound Intellectual Disability. Subsequently, multidisciplinary teams were appointed by the Western Cape Education Department to deliver services to the Special Care Centres (SCCs). Initially, minimal information was available on this population.Objectives: The purpose is to document the process of developing and validating a database for the collection of routine data.Method: A descriptive analytical study design was used. A sample of convenience was drawn from individuals under the age of 18 years, enrolled in SCCs in the Western Cape. The team who entered and analysed the data reached consensus regarding the utility and feasibility of each item.Results: Data were collected on 134 children. The omission of certain items from the database was identified. Some information was not reliable or readily available. Of the instruments identified to assess function, the classification systems were found to be reliable and useful, as were the performance scales. The WeeFIM, on the other hand, was lengthy and expensive, and was therefore discarded.Discussion and conclusions: A list of items to be included was identified. Apart from an individual profile, it can be useful for service planning and monitoring, if incorporated into the central information system used to monitor the performance of all children. Without such inclusion, this most vulnerable population, despite court ruling, will not have their right to education adequately addressed.

Sociolinguistics and Social Activism

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Charity Hudley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right

This chapter examines the history of social activism in sociolinguistics, with a particular focus on efforts in the United States. It exemplifies ways that the study of sociolinguistics is critical for increased social justice and social change, and demonstrates how sociolinguistic models might better reflect a social justice framework if they are co-constructed by linguists and the communities in which they learn and teach. At the heart of a linguistics-centered social justice framework is the most basic right of a speaker: the right to speak his or her language of choice at all times. Sociolinguistics has made great advances in helping to demonstrate the links between language use and social justice across racial and cultural groups.

Victim Participation in Parole Proceedings in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamil Mujuzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
South African ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Prison Inmate ◽  
Parole Board ◽  
Victims Of Crime ◽  
The Right

South African law provides for circumstances in which victims of crime may participate in the criminal justice system at the investigation, prosecution (trial), sentencing and parole stages. In South Africa, a prison inmate has no right to parole although the courts have held that they have a right to be considered for parole. In some cases, the victims of crime have a right to make submissions to the Parole Board about whether the offender should be released on parole. Section 299A of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 provides for the right of victims of crime to participate in parole proceedings. The purpose of this article is to discuss section 299A and illustrate ways in which victims of crime participate in the parole process. The author also recommends ways in which victims’ rights in section 299A of the Criminal Procedure Act could be strengthened.

Evaluation of staff in Healthcare Companies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troncone Raffaella ◽  
Coda Marco
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Rehabilitation Services ◽  
Individual Contribution ◽  
Personnel Evaluation ◽  
Good Evaluation ◽  
The Right

Evaluation is at the basis of any social context where all individuals are simultaneously "evaluated" and "evaluators" in all areas of daily life. The goal of a good evaluation system is to encourage staff to do "Good Health" through the provision of quality prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation services. The main reasons that lead to the evaluation of the personnel lie in the inevitable and primary importance of the human resource in achieving the corporate objectives, and by the pressing need for the quality of the service provided to the citizen, as well as the legitimate need of the employee to differentiate, clarifying its specificities and its own individual contribution to the general objectives of the company. In the working context, the "personnel evaluation" assumes a fundamental importance, if managed with the right criteria, in order to make the employee not a simple pawn to move and manage for use and consumption of the organization, but an integral part of the organization itself.

Women's Activism, Feminism, and Social Justice

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret A. McLaren
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Cultural Imperialism ◽  
Gender Justice ◽  
Women's Activism ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Economic Exploitation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Relational Framework ◽  
Individual Success

Informed by practices of women’s activism in India, this book proposes a feminist social justice framework to address the wide range of issues women face globally, including economic exploitation; sexist oppression; racial, ethnic, and caste oppression; and cultural imperialism. The feminist social justice framework provides an alternative to mainstream philosophical frameworks that analyze and promote gender justice globally: universal human rights, economic projects such as microfinance, and cosmopolitanism. These frameworks share a commitment to individualism and abstract universalism that underlie certain liberal and neoliberal approaches to justice. Arguing that these frameworks emphasize individualism over interdependence, similarity over diversity, and individual success over collective capacity, McLaren draws on the work of Rabindranath Tagore to develop the concept of relational cosmopolitanism. Relational cosmopolitanism prioritizes our connections, while acknowledging power differences. Extending Iris Young’s theory of political responsibility, McLaren shows how Fair Trade connects to the economic solidarity movement. The Self-Employed Women’s Association and MarketPlace India empower women through access to livelihoods as well as fostering leadership capabilities that allow them to challenge structural injustice through political and social activism. Their struggles to resist economic exploitation and gender oppression through collective action show the importance of challenging individualist approaches to achieving gender justice. The book concludes with a call for a shift in our thinking and practice toward reimagining the possibilities for justice from a relational framework, from independence to interdependence, from identity to intersectionality, and from interest to sociopolitical imagination.

scholarly journals Community Living, Intellectual Disability and Extensive Support Needs: A Rights-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3175
Author(s):  
Laura Esteban ◽  
Patricia Navas ◽  
Miguel Ángel Verdugo ◽  
Víctor B. Arias
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Community Living ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Related Services ◽  
The Right To Privacy ◽  
The Right

People with intellectual disability (ID) and extensive support needs experience poorer quality of life than their peers whose disability is not as severe. Many of them live in residential settings that limit community participation and prevent them from exercising control over their lives. This work analyzes the extent to which professional practices are aimed at promoting the right to community living for people with ID and extensive support needs, as well as the rights that are particularly linked to it, such as the right to habilitation and rehabilitation and the right to privacy. A specific questionnaire was designed and administered to 729 adults with intellectual disability (M = 37.05; DT = 12.79) living in different settings (family home, residential facilities and group homes). Measurement and structural models were estimated using exploratory structural equation modeling. Results obtained reveal that people with extensive support needs receive less support in terms of guaranteeing their right to independent living and privacy, especially when they live in disability-related services. This study highlights the need to implement and monitor, using valid and reliable indicators, mesosystem strategies that guarantee the right to live and participate in the community, especially for individuals with ID and extensive support needs.

scholarly journals The potential for person-centred planning to support the community participation of adults with an intellectual disability

2021 ◽  
pp. 174462952110221
Author(s):  
Darren McCausland ◽  
Esther Murphy ◽  
Mary McCarron ◽  
Philip McCallion
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Qualitative Case Studies ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Person-centred planning (PCP) puts individuals with an intellectual disability at the centre of service and support planning, identifying how individuals wish to live their lives and what is needed to make that possible. PCP has been identified as having the potential to facilitate improved social inclusion and community participation. A mixed-methods approach combined quantitative analyses with qualitative case studies of individuals with severe-profound intellectual disability to assess the impact of PCP on community participation for adults with an intellectual disability at a disability service in Dublin. We conclude that PCP may provide a good basis to plan community participation and, with the right supports in place, may provide opportunities for people with complex needs to improve their community participation. Supports including familiar staff and family are critical to the success of PCP for people with complex needs, and their absence may undermine the best intentions of PCP for this population.

scholarly journals The transition to general management in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Mallaby ◽  
Gavin Price ◽  
Karl Hofmeyr
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
General Manager ◽  
General Management ◽  
General Managers ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Effective Development ◽  
The Right

Orientation: Understanding the nature and challenges of making the transition from a functional role to a general management role in South African organisations.Research purpose: The objective of this study was to gain insight into the obstacles that affect the transition from functional to general management and identify steps that may be taken to overcome these challenges.Motivation for the study: One of the most difficult crossroads for a manager is making the shift from being a functional specialist to becoming a general manager. New competencies and behaviours are required, as well as a more strategic mind set. If the transition is not made successfully, the manager and the organisation suffer.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative design was used consisting of in-depth, semi-structured interviews, with 19 senior business leaders who had successfully made the transition. The interviews were used to gather insights into the challenges they faced during their transitions, and how these were overcome.Main findings: To make the transition successfully, functional managers need to gain relevant experience to prepare them for the broader scope of a general management role. They need to develop appropriate skills, attitudes and personal characteristics. Mentoring is an effective development process. Newly appointed general managers need to learn to let go of control while maintaining ownership, build relationships and strike the right balance between strategic thinking and execution. There are unique aspects of being a general manager in South Africa, such as dealing with Black Economic Empowerment and challenges of race and identity, given the country’s history.Practical and managerial implications: Specific interventions are suggested which are directed at both aspiring general managers and organisations seeking to assist middle managers to make the transition to general managers.Contribution: This study contributes to knowledge concerning the skills and attributes required by potential general managers, and the practical steps to be taken by South African organisations to facilitate the development of general managers. 

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