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Attitudes towards disabilities in a multicultural society

M T Westbrook1, V Legge, M Pennay

  • 1Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia.

Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|March 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary

Community attitudes toward disabilities vary significantly across cultural groups, with Germans showing the most acceptance. However, stigma hierarchies for specific disabilities remained consistent across all surveyed communities, impacting health practitioners and multicultural societies.

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Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Cross-Cultural Psychology
  • Disability Studies

Background:

  • Understanding community attitudes towards disability is crucial for effective health interventions.
  • Multicultural societies present unique challenges in addressing stigma and promoting inclusion.
  • Previous research indicates persistent stigma associated with certain disability groups.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate and compare community attitudes towards 20 disability groups across six distinct cultural communities.
  • To identify variations and similarities in social distance and stigma associated with different disabilities.
  • To explore the implications of these findings for health practitioners in diverse societies.

Main Methods:

  • A cross-sectional study involving 665 health practitioners from Chinese, Italian, German, Greek, Arabic, and Anglo Australian communities.

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  • Utilized social distance scales to assess community attitudes towards various disability groups.
  • Analyzed differences in acceptance and stigma hierarchies across cultural groups.

    • Main Results:

    • Significant differences in community attitudes were observed for 19 out of 20 disability groups.
    • The German community exhibited the highest level of acceptance, followed by Anglo, Italian, Chinese, Greek, and Arabic communities.
    • Remarkably consistent stigma hierarchies were found across all communities, with conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis being most accepted, and AIDS, mental retardation, psychiatric illness, and cerebral palsy being least accepted.

    Conclusions:

    • Cultural background significantly influences community attitudes towards people with disabilities.
    • Despite variations in overall acceptance, the relative stigma attached to specific disabilities is remarkably uniform across cultures.
    • Findings underscore the need for culturally sensitive approaches by health practitioners to address disability stigma in multicultural settings.