Running head: EFFECTS OF INCLUSION ON ATTITUDES TOWARD DISABLED Creating Positive Attitudes toward People with Disabilities through Inclusion

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Banks, Christina M.
Copyright Year	2008
Abstract	This study investigates how policies of inclusion at the collegiate level influence attitudes toward persons with disabilities. According to Allport’s (1954) contact hypothesis, intergroup contact can reduce prejudice toward out-group members. With this in mind, inclusion may be a tool to reduce inequalities, stemming from prejudice which persons with disabilities face. Students from two undergraduate colleges completed the same explicit attitudes survey. St. Andrews Presbyterian College has a commitment to inclusion while Hanover College does not have a strong policy of inclusion; for this reason it was hypothesized that St. Andrews students would report more positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities than Hanover students. Overall, St. Andrews and Hanover students’ attitudes did not differ as measure by the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale and the Disability Social Relations Generalized Disability scale. However, St. Andrews upper-classmen did report more positive affects than St. Andrews first-year students and all Hanover students. These results indicate that exposure to an inclusive program over an extended period of time does predict more positive feelings toward persons with disabilities. 2 Effects of inclusion on attitudes toward disabled Creating Positive Attitudes toward People with Disabilities through Inclusion Throughout the last century there have been incredible social transformations that have increased the civil rights and diminished negative attitudes toward disenfranchised populations within America. Despite these transformations, persons with disabilities continue to experience discrimination that is deeply rooted in negative attitudes and stereotypes. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 states that 15 percent of Americans have one or more physical or mental disabilities and this group of people continue to experience inequalities in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and public services. Inequalities in the areas of employment, education, and earning potential have also been demonstrated by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2006) which reports that 29.3 percent of non-institutionalized persons with disabilities have a less than high school education compared to 12.4 percent of nondisabled persons. Additionally, this survey reports that only 25.6 percent of noninstitutionalized persons with disabilities are employed, compared to 69 percent of nondisabled persons. Finally, inequalities in earning potential are also demonstrated by the American Community Survey (2006); 33.6 percent of non-institutionalized persons with disabilities have an income less than 10,000 dollars per year, compared to 19.6 percent of nondisabled persons. One of biggest obstacles for disabled persons has been overcoming social stigmas that inhibit them from fully integrating into society. People with disabilities, mental and physical, have a history of institutionalization. Despite the deinstitutionalization movement that was launched in the 1960s people with disabilities continue to be 3 Effects of inclusion on attitudes toward disabled segregated from the mainstream. The deinstitutionalization movement advocated for the reintegration of person with disabilities into society; however segregation of persons with disabilities often results from the lack of opportunities for adequate and accommodating housing. Segregation increases social distance between disabled persons and nondisabled persons which limits the opportunity for interaction and increases the likelihood that persons with disabilities will be socially rejected, thus strengthening negative attitudes and stereotypes of this group of people (Davis, 1961; Evans, 1976; Link et al., 1999). One issue that disabled persons face is the lack of independent living where they have the same opportunities for choice and control as non-disabled persons (Morris, 2004). Chamberlain (1978) has identified that this is a hindrance because stigma against persons with disabilities will persist until persons with disabilities can demonstrate their independence by regaining control over their living situations. Many studies have sought to find ways in which attitudes and stereotypes of people with disabilities can be altered. According to Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) one of the most effective methods for changing attitudes is to provide new information that challenges existing beliefs. Intergroup contact provides a forum where new information can be learned through direct experience. According the Allport’s Contact Hypothesis (1954) intergroup contact can reduce prejudice and stereotyping between groups as long as certain conditions are met. Allport states that the effectiveness of intergroup contact is greatly enhanced if the contact is sanctioned by institutional supports; and if the groups have common goals, cooperation, and equal group status within the situation. Social scientists have suggested that intergroup contact is an effective strategy for improving intergroup relations because it stimulates group members to recognize interpersonal 4 Effects of inclusion on attitudes toward disabled similarities with the other group (Brown & Lopez, 2001). With this in mind, the primary goal of this research is to investigate how contact between persons with disabilities and non-disabled individuals, through inclusion, impacts explicit attitudes toward people with disabilities. Inclusion is defined as an educational model in which students with disabilities receive their education in a general educational setting with typical students (Accardo & Whitman, 1996). Inclusion has the ability of being especially powerful in changing attitudes because it contains the variables that Yuker (1994) identities as important in changing attitudes toward the disabled such as cooperation, reciprocity, and getting to know one another over an extended period of time. It is expected that students attending a college that places an emphasis on inclusion will have more positive attitudes toward people with disabilities than students attending a college that has very little emphasis on inclusion Currently, most research in this area focuses on how various forms of exposure to a person with a disability affects attitudes toward the disabled. Yuker (1994) summarizes the variables that influence attitudes toward people with disabilities and identifies key features of contact with between disabled persons and nondisabled persons that should be present in order to create positive attitudes. Yuker (1994) states that for the interaction to create positive attitudes the non-disabled person should “have demographic and personality characteristics similar to those of the disabled individuals with whom they interact, and should have status that is equal to the disabled person. ... The interaction should involve cooperation and reciprocity, be rewarding to both disabled and nondisabled participants, 5 Effects of inclusion on attitudes toward disabled result in the participants getting to know one another as individuals, and
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://psych.hanover.edu/research/Thesis08/Banks2008.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article