Antaki2007e

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Antaki2007e
BibType ARTICLE
Key Antaki2007e
Author(s) Charles Antaki, Chris Walton, W. M. L. Finlay
Title How proposing an activity to a person with an intellectual disability can imply a limited identity
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, activities, choice, control, empowerment, identity, intellectual disability, learning disability, mental retardation, policy, rights
Publisher
Year 2007
Language
City
Month
Journal Discourse & Society
Volume 18
Number 4
Pages 393–410
URL Link
DOI 10.1177/0957926507075473
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

In residential homes for people with learning or intellectual disabilities (or mental retardation, in North American usage), a routine way for staff members to structure residents' time is to propose outside activities (e.g. shopping trips to town, attendance at a concert and so on). We identify one common way of proposing such activities that reveals a subtle but significant aspect of the staff's understanding of the residents' identities. Staff often introduce an activity not by mentioning its actual qualities (e.g. 'Do you want to go and see a church concert with lots of singing?'), but by associating it with a given individual (e.g. 'Do you want to go to a concert with Bill?'). This practice favours the social aspect of the residents' choices over any other, and encourages the residents' conceptions of themselves as people with feelings who care about others, and who are, in turn, cared about. We discuss the implications of such an apparently positive identity ascription.

Notes