Negotiating Psycho-emotional Dimensions of Disability and their Influence on Identity Constructions

Reeve, Donna

doi:10.1080/09687590220148487

Cited by 207 publications

(171 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…For those with congenital impairments, such thoughts were reported as having been internalised from a young age and had often been confirmed by (usually, well-meaning) family members; for example, telling them 'not to get their hopes up'. This was narrated to have substantial impact upon sexual self-confidence and esteem (and thus constituted significant sexual oppression) and supports the notion that psycho-emotional disablism can be at its most acute when carried out by known agents (Reeve 2002). Graham, a 52 year old single male who acquired physical impairment at age 20, told of how he'd had intimate relationships with women to whom he was not attracted and didn't like because saw them as the 'only opportunity' to have a relationship; but also because these relationships provided an (albeit, temporary) solution to his isolation and loneliness:…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 87%

“…However, while the psycho-emotional dimensions (Reeve 2002;Thomas 1999) and 'work' and 'performances' of the disability identity have been explored within disability studies (Church et al 2007;Goodley 2010), the concepts of 'emotional work' and 'emotional labour' have seldom been applied to disabled people's experiences (Wilton 2008). The little empirical work that has taken place has related to work settings and public spaces and systems (see Church et al 2007;Wilton 2008;Bolton and Boyd 2003;Wong 2000).…”

Section: Learning To Labour: Emotional Work and Disability Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While social model orthodoxy holds the psychological 'as epiphenomenal, diversionary, and potentially misappropriated in the buttressing of pathologising accounts of disablement' (Watermeyer, 2009, iii), feminist authors, markedly Thomas (1999), and later, Reeve (2002), have argued for the inclusion of the psychological and emotional dimensions of disability and impairment within disability studies (see also Goodley 2011). For example, in her social relational model of disability, Thomas (1999, 60; emphasis added) redefines disability as 'a form of social oppression involving the social imposition of restrictions of activity on people with impairments and the socially engendered undermining of their psycho-emotional well-being.'…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The work of disabled identities in intimate relationships

Liddiard

2013

Disability & Society

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This article details a thematic analysis of disabled men and women's accounts of past and present intimate relationships. Drawing upon the sexual stories of 25 disabled people, informants' intimate relationships are explored as a site of emotional work (Hochschild 1983), as well as a site of other forms of (gendered) work. This article critically questions the work carried out by informants and considers the ways in which it was shaped by their lived experiences of gender, sexuality, impairment and disability. It concludes that the requirement to carry out forms of work within intimate and sexual life constituted a form of psycho-emotional disablism (Thomas 1999).Keywords: disability; gender; sexuality; intimate; emotional work Points of Interest This article considers disabled people's experiences of "love" relationships. The research found that both disabled men and women carried out "work" within these relationships. Usually, this work was shaped by the ways in which they felt about, or experienced, their gender, sexuality, impairment and disability. I question what this work means for disabled people, and argue that it is a form of disablism.

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Section: )mentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Learning To Labour: Emotional Work and Disability Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The work of disabled identities in intimate relationships

Liddiard

2013

Disability & Society

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“…The absence of gender focus may be attributed to the assumption of asexuality or infantilism linked to disability, 21,58,71,72 the gender neutrality of health care, 6,72,73 unexamined assumptions of the nondisabled community, 74,75 the predominance of gender similarities over differences, 76,77 the salience of disability over gender 78 or the tendency to see disability as the dominant identity marker. 21,[79][80][81] SCI has multiple ramifications for personal, social, professional and domestic responsibilities and, while gender is not the only, and not even necessarily the most important, social identity, it is 'the most pervasive, visible and codified' .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Masculinity lost: a systematic review of qualitative research on men with spinal cord injury

Nolan

2013

Spinal Cord

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Study design: Systematic, thematic, narrative review of qualitative literature. Objectives: To systematically review qualitative research that explores the impact of spinal cord injury (SCI) on the gendered experience of men with SCI. Methods: A systematic search of databases and hand search of relevant journals to provide a thematic narrative review of articles, providing sufficient depth of information, relevant participant quotes and phenomenological insight into the gendered experience of men with SCI. Identified studies are summarised and common themes extracted and discussed in relation to relevant literature on masculinity, disability and health. Results: Eight papers, representing four separate studies met the review criteria for relevance and rigour. Three broad, overlapping themes describing the gendered experience of men with SCI were identified: 'lost masculinity', outlining the impact of SCI on traditional masculine identity, 'fighting back', describing the battle to regain and reclaim masculinity and integrate disability into a revised identity and 'beyond hegemony', referring to possibilities beyond adherence to traditional masculine scripts. Conclusion: This review demonstrates a lack of explicit focus on men as gendered beings within the available qualitative literature. The findings are consistent with the limited quantitative data, which indicates that grappling with altered gendered identity is a central feature of life for men with SCI. Masculine identity emerges in this review as vulnerable to the impact of SCI, and given the strong links identified between masculinity, rehabilitation and health, as an aspect of experience that warrants more attention than it has received.

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“…Writing from Britain, Thomas (1999Thomas ( , 2007 and Reeve (2002Reeve ( , 2008 A focus on the 'inner worlds' of disabled people has been criticised by those who view these issues as 'private troubles' (Oliver 1996: 48), yet the 'barriers within' continue to be the focus of disability scholars. Hacking (2007) argues that the private and the public are entwined, working together to create and maintain 'kinds of people ' (p.293).…”

Section: Leisure and Child Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%