Deck 17: Disability and Social Inequality Over the Life Course

Question 1

Which sociologist, writing in the 1960s, argued that possessing "non-normal" traits can result in disqualification from full social acceptance?

A) Michel Foucault
B) Erving Goffman
C) Antonio Gramsci
D) Theodre Adorno
E) Stewart Hall

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Canadians living with a disability are more likely to face which of the following, compared to their counterparts without disabilities?

A) Unemployment
B) Involuntary part-time work
C) Lower wages
D) Lower educational attainment
E) All of the above

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which of the following characterizes a life course perspective?

A) An atomistic view of social phenomena
B) Emphasis on the micro level of individual experience and perception
C) How individual outcomes are shaped by accumulated experiences across the entire life course
D) An analysis of static social context
E) An emphasis on development and corresponding psychological changes

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which approach to the study of disability focuses primarily on the "problem" of disability as an issue of individual functional limitations and psychological consequences?

A) The social/environmental model
B) The evolutionary model
C) The conflict model
D) The developmental model
E) The medical model

Question 5

Which of the following is not typically associated with individual level interpretations of disability?

A) Reliance of people with disabilities on social networks and state assistance
B) The influence of social stigma on personal identity
C) The physical condition of the body as the source of hardship
D) The historical oppression and segregation of disabled individuals
E) Individual adaption and coping strategies

Question 6

What approach to the study of disability emerged from intellectual and political initiatives by activists associated with social movements of the 1970s?

A) The medical model
B) The psychological model
C) The social model
D) The evolutionary model
E) The conflict/critical model

Question 7

Social models of disability point to the need to distinguish which two aspects?

A) Impairment and disability
B) Ability and language
C) Impairment and policy
D) History and disability
E) Biology and society

Question 8

Which of the following would not be considered an aspect of disability?

A) Individual prejudice
B) Institutional discrimination
C) Inaccessible transportation
D) Exclusionary practices in education
E) Medically classifiable condition

Question 9

According to the variations of the social model rooted in Marxism, why is disability linked with exclusionary practices?

A) Those who are impaired do not comprise an important segment of the consumer market.
B) Those who are impaired are seen as labour that cannot be exploited.
C) Those who are impaired face harsh competition from their non-impaired counterparts in the labour movement.
D) Those who are impaired have a greater sense of solidarity with others.
E) Those who are impaired are unlikely to be capitalists, therefore they lack social power.

Question 10

Which of the following is not emphasized in social models of disability?

A) Discrimination
B) Exclusion
C) Oppression
D) The need to protect human rights
E) Coping (as a matter of personal deficit)

Question 11

In what approach is disability seen as a social category associated with minority status, and is central to activism and political action aimed at eliminating oppression based on this status?

A) The structural approach
B) The symbolic interactionist approach
C) The social approach
D) The structural functionalist approach
E) The medical model

Question 12

Based on the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disabilities, how many Canadians aged 15 and over reported having an impairment that limits their daily activities?

A) 3.8 million
B) 5.9 million
C) 6.2 million
D) 10.5 million
E) 14 million

Question 13

Research on what emerged in the 1970s, partly in response to enormous social changes occurring at the time?

A) Life course research
B) Reasonable accommodation
C) Cumulative inequality
D) Educational attainment
E) Inequalities in employment

Question 14

What principle suggests that the same event can affect individuals differently and can change the meaning of the event, depending on when it occurs in history and in the individual life course?

A) The life course principle
B) The timing principle
C) The accumulation principle
D) The confounding principle
E) The synchronicity principle

Question 15

In disability studies, which of the following is important because it determines the set of social roles, institutions, and cultural norms that an individual needs to navigate?

A) Place in institutions
B) The state of technology
C) Age of onset
D) Educational attainment
E) Socio-economic status

Question 16

What theory(ies) suggest that inequality is generated by a process in which initial relative advantages deriving from a more privileged social location lead to growing inequality among individuals or groups over time?

A) Cumulative dis/advantage
B) Diminishing returns
C) Path dependency
D) Hegemony
E) Entrenched advantage

Question 17

Which of the following is not one of the purported advantages of a segregated special education system?

A) Specialized teacher training
B) Flexible curricula
C) Regular contact with disabled peers
D) Pragmatic workforce aspirations
E) Accessible environments

Question 18

Which of the following most accurately describes education attainment in Canada for those with disabilities?

A) They are most likely to have university as their highest level of education.
B) They are most likely to have ended their formal education with less than a high school diploma.
C) Educational attainment does not vary by severity of disability.
D) There are no significant differences between with and without disabilities in terms of university completion rates.
E) Patterns of educational attainment all but disappear when we control for age.

Question 19

What principle is used to assess employer obligations to those with disabilities in the workplace?

A) Diminishing returns
B) Undue hardship
C) Return on investment (ROI)
D) Reasonable accommodation
E) Equal opportunity

Question 20

What category of workers with disabilities are more likely to have unmet accommodation need?

A) Workers in precarious employment
B) Younger workers
C) Workers with fewer years of education
D) Workers from other countries
E) Female workers

Question 21

Based on data from the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disabilities, how many Canadians have an impairment that limits their daily activities?

A) 42.9% of the Canadian population
B) 42.9 million individuals
C) 6.2% of the Canadian population
D) 6.2 million individuals
E) 10.8% of the Canadian population

Question 22

One consequence of the shift from the rural-based cooperative system of production to the urban factory-based system was that people with impairments __________.

A) were given too much work to do
B) were excluded from paid work on the assumption that they did not need individual income
C) were excluded from paid work on the assumption that they were unable to keep up with the demands of the emerging factory-based system
D) were excluded from paid work on the assumption that they were more susceptible to further disability in the workplace
E) made up a larger demographic of the workforce

Question 23

Rioux and Samson (2006) note that the shift to a social model of disability first appeared with the United Nations establishment of international policy guidelines, following the adoption of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons in _____.

A) 1979
B) 1982
C) 1992
D) 1993
E) 2006

Question 24

Fundamental rights and protections for persons with disabilities regarding issues such as employment equity and income support were contained in key pieces of legislation enacted in the 1980s, including __________.

A) the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)
B) the Canadian Human Rights Act (1985)
C) the Employment Equity Act (1986)
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 25

Children who are selected for special education and removed from the regular classroom, and/or tracked into differentiated curricula often face __________.

A) restricted academic achievement
B) stigmatization
C) dissimilar classroom cultures
D) reduced expectations of teachers, parents, peers, and lower self-efficacy
E) All of the above

Question 26

Based on estimates from the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, what percentage of Canadians aged 25-64 with disabilities were employed?

A) 80 percent
B) 17.3 percent
C) 49 percent
D) 64 percent
E) 35 percent

Question 27

Employers' decisions to accommodate people with disabilities are affected by which factor?

A) Perception of disability, including the belief that people with disabilities are less capable of meeting organizational demand and unable to work at a normal pace
B) The employee's willingness to work more hours throughout the week
C) The employee's wage or salary
D) The extent of the employee's disability
E) Available funding

Question 28

Figure 17.4 shows that the income gap between persons with and persons without disabilities grows as __________.

A) severity increases
B) the employment rate increases
C) the rate of poverty increases
D) new politicians are elected into the federal government
E) subsidies are provided for accommodating people with disabilities at work

Question 29

Which of the following is part of the many determinants of disability?

A) Social determinants, like working conditions
B) Socio-economic status
C) Exposure to stress
D) Access to health services and practices
E) All of the above

Question 30

What was the major shift in the 1980s regarding definitions and policies regarding disability in Canada?

A) Traditional views of disability as an individual problem were gradually replaced by a social model that emphasized how society has excluded people with impairments.
B) Oppression faced by Canadians with disabilities became systematically embedded in social institutions and culture.
C) The income gap between people with and people without disabilities decreased.
D) The income gap between people with and people without disabilities increased.
E) The government enacted policies that would provide income support to retirees.

Question 31

The degree of inequality associated with disability can be exacerbated by other sources of disadvantage.

Question 32

The effect of disability on inequality does not differ in terms of the experience of aging with and aging into disability.

Question 33

The experiences of people with disabilities are relatively unaffected by birth cohort.

Question 34

The "personal tragedy theory" implies that responsibility and accountability for disabilities lie with the individual.

Question 35

Social models of disability were developed in part to address the historical oppression and segregation of disabled individuals.

Question 36

Impairment refers to the social disadvantages experienced as the result of some perceived physical characteristic.

Question 37

Within a social model, disability refers to all the factors that create restrictive circumstances for people living with impairments.

Question 38

The medical model of disability largely conceives of disability as existing through transactions between individuals and their environments, rather than within the individual alone.

Question 39

According to the cultural approach to disabilities in anthropology, dominant social groups are portrayed as "normal" in cultural representations found in the media, in the prevailing ideology, and in the values and actions of policymakers.

Question 40

The cultural and the Marxian approach to disability differ in whether the mode of production influences cultural representations of disability or vice-versa.

Question 41

The vast majority of adult Canadians with disabilities reported only a single disability.

Question 42

Men throughout all age groups are more likely to report a disability than women.

Question 43

Advances in education, technology, and medicine are increasing the proportion of people who are aging with impairments, relative to the proportion who first acquire impairments later in life.

Question 44

The duration of impairment is important in disability studies because it represents the point of entry into disabling social institutions and culture.

Question 45

The shift to a social model of disability first appeared in 1982 with the United Nations establishment of international policy guidelines.

Question 46

Canada lacks the kind of overarching disability legislation that is found in states such as the UK and the US.

Question 47

Social mobility out of special education is limited by lower expectations and a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 48

Employment-related inequalities for workers with disabilities vary with the timing of impairment in an accumulative fashion.

Question 49

Accommodations for those with disabilities must be provided by employers in all cases, regardless of cost or impact.

Question 50

The gap in earnings between those with disabilities and those without is consistent throughout age groups.

Question 51

Negative attitudes and behaviours spread fear, perpetuating oppressive stereotypes that become embedded in social institutions and raise various barriers for persons with disabilities.

Question 52

The "personal tragedy theory" cultivates an image of suffering, passivity, and dependence in which people with disabilities must rely on personal social networks and state assistance.

Question 53

Disability is not seen as a social category associated with minority status.

Question 54

The World Health Organization conceptualizes people with disabilities as less capable of meeting organizational demands.

Question 55

Based on data from the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability, the vast majority of adult Canadians with disabilities reported more than one type of disability.

Question 56

Karl Marx's materialist approach connects social oppression to the mode of production.

Question 57

During the last half of the twentieth century, children with disabilities were socialized to have low expectations and aspirations regarding education and work.

Question 58

Employment-related inequalities do not necessarily vary with the timing of impairment in an accumulative fashion consistent with theories of cumulative dis/advantage.

Question 59

Employers believe that young workers with disabilities possess fewer "soft skills."

Question 60

Structural inequalities in the educational and employment systems result in greater risk exposure and lesser opportunity for people with disabilities across the life course.

Question 61

How is disability measured? Who is more likely to experience a disability?

Question 62

What is the difference between "aging with" versus "aging into" disability?

Question 63

What is reasonable accommodation? How does it apply to discrimination in the workplace?

Question 64

What is the World Health Organization's conceptualization of "disability"?

Question 65

What implications does the social model of disability have for social policy?

Question 66

Summarize the life course perspective as it pertains to disabilities. What three major themes are highlighted by this approach?

Question 67

What is the difference between a medical and a social interpretation of disabilities? Explain the assumptions of each approach and explain which you find most valid for understanding disability and why.

Question 68

How does disability permeate educational experiences? In what specific ways does this result in inequality?

Question 69

Discuss some of the inequalities that persons with disabilities may experience from the education system.

Question 70

How can the accumulative nature of the costs of disability in education and the workforce be mitigated?

Question 71

What is reasonable accommodation? Where do we draw the line between what is reasonable and unreasonable?

Question 72

Is disability only a cause of inequality? Can you think of instances where inequality causes disability?

Question 73

Consider the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people's lives. For those with disabilities, how might these consequences have been exacerbated?

Question 74

It is hard to determine whether disability affects economic security or whether economic security affects the chances of experiencing a disability. Discuss examples for both the former and latter.