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Social Disability as Disaster: Case Studies of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People Living with Disabilities

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  • Irena L. C. Connon

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
    Energy, Environment and Society, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, Scotland, UK)

  • Alexandra Crampton

    (Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI 53233, USA)

  • Christopher Dyer

    (Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Division, UNM Gallup: The University of New Mexico, Gallup, NM 87301, USA)

  • Rita Xiaochen Hu

    (School of Social Work, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA)

Abstract

Social disability is a process or event that significantly disrupts, paralyzes, or prevents the formation and/or sustaining of interpersonal social relations required for meeting human needs. When prolonged, the ‘disabling’ of essential human interrelationships can have a destructive impact. This is especially true in communities where people are highly interdependent and where individuals living with disabilities rely upon social relationships to prevent isolation and decline in overall wellbeing. Meanwhile, disaster response systems have developed to first rescue or protect individuals’ ‘bare life’ and immediate, bodily needs. We argue that these systems, intended to mitigate disaster, can exacerbate social disability as a kind of collateral damage. We explore this problem as it unfolded amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in two research sites: one located in rural, northern Scotland and another located in rural, Midwestern United States. The Scottish research focuses on experiences, causes and risks of social disability for adults living with disabilities within a small rural community, while the U.S. research focuses on emergence of and resistance to social disability among residents of a continuing care retirement community for 55+ aged adults. We conclude with implications and recommendations for disaster intervention and future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Irena L. C. Connon & Alexandra Crampton & Christopher Dyer & Rita Xiaochen Hu, 2024. "Social Disability as Disaster: Case Studies of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People Living with Disabilities," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-29, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:4:p:203-:d:1370744
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gertrude R Gauthier & Jeffrey A Smith & Catherine García & Marc A Garcia & Patricia A Thomas & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "Exacerbating Inequalities: Social Networks, Racial/Ethnic Disparities, and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States [Social networks among blacks and whites: The interaction between race and age]," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(3), pages 88-92.
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