Disabled People and Economic Needs in the Developing World: A Political Perspective from Jordan
Reviewed by Sophie Mitra, Rutgers University (sophiem@rci.rutgers.edu)
Disabled People and Economic Needs in the Developing World: A Political Perspective from Jordan. Majid Turmusani. Ashgate Publishing, Hampshire, England, 2003. ISBN 0-7546-3329-Z.
Very little attention has been paid to disability in the context of developing countries. The idea that disability is an issue that mainly arises in developed countries with aging populations is fairly widespread despite being misleading. One basis for this assumption may be that the vast majority of research in the field of disability is conducted in developed countries. The time for showing the importance and relevance of disability in the context of developing countries is overdue and Majid Turmusani improves our understanding of disability in the context of developing countries and Jordan in particular. This book helps readers realize how issues in disability studies in the West are relevant to a developing country such as Jordan. It is a scholarly piece with a multidisciplinary exposition across sociology, anthropology, public policy and community development.
The thematic coverage of this book is very broad and perhaps, unavoidably, somewhat unbalanced. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is on "Disability in a global context" which sets the overall context of the study in four chapters. It includes a review of different models of disability, an analysis of the economic needs associated with disability, attitudes towards disability in the West and in the East, in Islamic countries in particular, and finally, a justification of the use of a participatory research method in the rest of the book.
Majid Turmusani makes an interesting analysis of attitudes and perceptions of disability in the West and in the East, with a focus on Islamic countries and Jordan. His research method adopts the social model of disability. Majid Turmusani argues in favor of the use of participatory research methods, and particularly emancipatory ones where the research process is democratized and research subjects themselves contribute to the design and process of the research project. While I entirely understand the benefits of such qualitative methods, I think that Majid Turmusani is harsh on traditional quantitative research methods and fails to recognize the complementarity of both approaches: "traditional social science research, especially survey methods, has characteristically treated disabled people in developing countries as subjects of the research enterprise and thus has contributed to their marginalization" (p. 61). In fact, persons with disabilities have been subject to very little research in developing countries, and I believe and they would stand to benefit from more research efforts whether methods are traditional and quantitative or innovative and participatory.
Part 2 comprises three chapters that cover the disability policy background in Jordan and the results of Majid Turmusani's research study in Jordan. His sample included 154 persons with disabilities who were blind, deaf or had physical disabilities. Majid Turmusani pursued two lines of research. His first purpose was to find out about the perceptions of persons with disabilities towards disability and provisions and legislation on employment and welfare support in Jordan. He found out that "disabled people's perception of impairment and disability was largely constrained by the traditional medical approach to disability. For example, many of them viewed impairment as a personal problem which should be accommodated at the individual level. Disabled people showed gratitude to service providers ... and accepted the control of professional over their lives".
His second line of enquiry was about the perceived economic needs and aspirations of persons with disabilities in Jordan, finding that the needs of persons with disabilities are not entirely different from other members of society. The need for income, and employment in particular, was accorded the highest priority, which is understandable in a country where there is no welfare system in place. Majid Turmusani also found that the need for medical care, transportation, education and positive attitudes were important perceived needs for persons with disabilities. The major difference between persons with disabilities and those without disabilities is that a great part of these economic needs remain unmet for persons with disabilities. Another important finding is that a large majority of persons with disabilities perceive the meeting of their needs as a matter of charity and not as a right.
Part 3 has concluding remarks. Majid Turmusani recommends developing a participatory disability policy agenda focused on environmental issues. "Disabled people have to have a central role in the process of their economic rehabilitation, including the identification of needs... this study has shown the need for a change in priorities". While the policy recommendations are very general, Turmasani has demonstrated the need for a change in attitudes towards disability in Jordan even among persons with disabilities themselves from the medical model of disability to the social model of disability. This change of attitude is required if persons with disabilities are to have an increased participation in the economy and society as a whole.
To conclude, this book makes a very useful contribution to our understanding of disability in the context of development. It is strongly recommended for persons with an interest in disability in a development context in general, and in Islamic and Arabic countries, in particular.
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