Swedish and English adolescents' attitudes toward the community presence of people with disabilities

Hastings, R.P., Sjöström, K.E. and Stevenage, S.V. (1998) Swedish and English adolescents' attitudes toward the community presence of people with disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 42 (3), 246-253. (doi:10.1046/j.1365-2788.1998.00125.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Predictions derived from North American formulations of normalization suggest that contemporary care policies for people with intellectual disabilities will have a positive impact on societal perceptions of this group. To test this, adolescents' attitudes towards the community presence of people with disabilities in a normalization-advanced country (Sweden) and a relatively less normalization-advanced country (England) were compared. It was expected that Swedish and English participants would hold equally positive views of people with a non-intellectual disability, whereas English participants would hold less positive views than Swedish participants of people with an intellectual disability. The results gave limited support to this expectation when dimensions of participants' attitudes derived from a factor analysis were analysed. These results are discussed with reference to other factors that may influence attitudes in the two countries. In addition, implications for future research and practice are outlined.

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