Ableism: Discrimination Against Functional Diversity
There is increasing awareness about the different types of discrimination that certain groups and minorities must face in their daily lives. For example, racism and machismo are examples of ways of thinking that result in unequal treatment of certain people for being the way they are.
But there are other concepts that refer to the ways in which discrimination is currently practiced. For example, that of ableism, referring to the unequal treatment received by people with functional diversity often stigmatized and treated with prejudice for being considered disabled.
Ableism is that form of ideological and material discrimination that is oriented against people who are considered disabled. That is, ableism refers to the prejudices and stereotypes that lead to underestimating people with functional diversity, but It is also reflected in laws and material structures (architectural, urban planning, etc.) that represent a barrier for this group.
That is, ableism It is both ideological and institutional because it is expressed through thoughts but also through designs and fixed and legitimized forms of organization.
The functional diversity paradigm
The idea of ableism is born from a new perspective that addresses the way in which people considered disabled are socially and politically welcomed. This new paradigm is based on the concept of functional diversity, which is used as a substitute for “disability.”
And what is functional diversity? It is an idea used to avoid stigmatization of disabled people These, instead of being seen as “broken” human beings, incomplete or, in short, “erroneous bodies”, are considered representatives of another type of functionality, neither better nor worse than that which had been considered “normal” (the which, from the perspective of functional diversity, is no longer considered as such).
In this way, ableism points out as a fundamental problem the widespread assumption of the idea that people with functional diversity are a deviation from normality and that, at the same time, they do not have the same rights as other human beings.
Ableism and the halo effect
One of the psychological phenomena that explains how ableism works is the halo effect.
The halo effect is a tendency to value people based on one of their characteristics and extending the value judgment that has been made on that initial trait to the entire person.
That is why, for example, a person who gives a lot of importance to stereotypes linked to politics can evaluate negatively a behavior in a person dressed in a certain way (for example, with dreadlocks) and, on the other hand, evaluate positively that same behavior in another individual dressed differently.
The halo effect hijacks our ability to reasonably and exhaustively assess the different nuances and characteristics of a person, and makes us simply extend our opinion about a specific characteristic that has caught our attention to the whole. Additionally, there are indications that the halo effect may be present in most humans.
In this way, people with functional diversity are labeled by their biological characteristics and their point of view is minimized or considered an emanation of their condition as disabled individuals. Ableism is shaped in part by typecasting: whatever is done, it will be interpreted as a direct consequence of being disabled, which makes the humanity of these people less visible. And this, of course, has a very negative effect on the self-esteem of many.
To stop ableism, mental health professionals from all fields (including clinical psychology) emphasize the need to not attributing all the problems of a disabled person to their individuality, as if it were a painful experience that must be carried in silence. As an alternative, a bio-psycho-social approach is proposed that takes into account the importance of context.
For example, tetraplegia does not generate as many problems if society adapts to it by creating access for wheelchairs and avoiding architectural barriers Sometimes, the concept of disability can be used as an excuse to bring private and individual problems that must be addressed collectively.
Thus, care for disabled people does not consist only of treatments focused on the individual, but also of social education and networking so that the context also adapts to the individual, and not just the other way around. Eliminate ableism involves a change in awareness and also coordinated action of several people who propose to change the institutions in the public and private spheres.
