Social representations of disability among a sample of parents of children with disabilities

(a field study in Lattakia

Abstract

The current research aimed to identify the social representations of disability among a sample of parents of children with disabilities. The sample consisted of (81) fathers and mothers. A descriptive approach was adopted in the research, and the sample was randomly selected. Ana Maria de Rosa's (1995) associative network technique was used. The results showed that the representations were generally negative, and that the word "fatigue and isolation" was the most frequently repeated word, forming the central core of the social representation of disability. It was the most frequently repeated and important word, and thus the most stable among the sample members. It was 100% negative, as classified by the sample members.

As for the first peripheral system, it included the words "bullying, fear, love, patience, loneliness, acceptance, tenderness, and pain." Frequencies ranged from 10 to 20, and the words ranged from negative to positive. The second peripheral system of representation contains the words (responsibility, suffering, disability, pressure, does not speak, illness, effort, fate, sadness, satisfaction, hope, unknown future, difficulty communicating, autism, gift from God, interest, care, mental retardation, difficulty speaking, mental, motor, Down syndrome, understanding, difficulty understanding, test from God, sympathy, learning, disorder, society’s view, does not hear, lack of concentration, optimism, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, deficiency, kindness) which their frequency ranged from 9 to 3, and most of these words had a negative direction.