Modern parliaments are mostly compared to the top echelon of the society.The unfairness of the representation still holds true even where free, fair and periodic democratic elections are held. PWDs constitue the largest minority group accounting for 15.6% of the world's population. In Ethiopia approximately the same percentage of the population is disabled though nor fairly represented in the political system. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Mozambique is a least developed country (LDC), and is among the five lowest on the Human Development Index and is known to have no specific protection of people with disabilities (PWDs) with as up to specific legislation has been adopted but g but general laws on social welfare. Although the 2004 Constitution has a generic protection norm nothing much can be found in the whole system. Unfortunately, the 1990 Constitution was more protective and more specifics; the former roughly reduced the extent of protection that existed before. It can be said that Mozambique does not have any protection of PWDs at all. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Disability rights laws in the United States have been designed to promote integration through a “mainstreaming” model—integrating disabled people into mainstream society. In contrast, this dissertation documents and analyzes the emergence of a different integration model—inverse integration—which involves situations in which nondisabled people enter disability-focused settings or participate in disability-focused activities. As this dissertation demonstrates, inverse integration is surprisingly popular. For example, in contemporary U.S. society, nondisabled students study in “special education” programs, nondisabled people reside in housing projects for disabled individuals, hearing actors perform in Deaf theatres, and nondisabled athletes compete in wheelchair sports. By looking outside the mainstream, this dissertation tests the normative underpinnings of conventional integration. For example, by analyzing the integration of nondisabled children into special education classrooms, the dissertation provides an explanation for why interactions between disabled and nondisabled students in schools have so far failed to shift attitudes toward disability. Similarly, by examining the reasons behind nondisabled people’s desire to play wheelchair basketball or learn sign language, it sheds new light on disability rights law’s limitations in promoting relationships. Finally, by pointing to the differing ways in which elite sports organizations treat athletes’ physical injuries, on one hand, and mental health issues, on the other, this dissertation exposes another angle of the stigma surrounding mental health in the mainstream discourse. In terms of methodology, this dissertation has taken a socio-legal approach, using empirical and theoretical work in the areas of sociology, anthropology, history, and social psychology. In one chapter, I conducted an empirical study (systematic content analysis) of legal decisions. Influenced by disability studies, this dissertation has also drawn upon the personal experiences of disabled people and references memoirs of disabled athletes, scholars, and activists, as well as personal narratives featured in blog posts, op-eds, and legal scholarship. The dissertation is divided into three chapters. The first chapter, Reversing Reverse Mainstreaming, documents and criticizes the practice of “reverse mainstreaming,” whereby nondisabled children are integrated into classes for disabled students. Using a historical account and systematic analysis of hundreds of administrative decisions, this chapter describes the circumstances that gave rise to reverse mainstreaming and analyzes the practice’s normative underpinnings. In doing so, this chapter exposes a conundrum: On one hand, educators and judges have long justified reverse mainstreaming by pointing to its potential to reduce prejudice through structured interactions between disabled and nondisabled students. On the other hand, reverse mainstreaming often treats disabled students as inferior to their nondisabled peers and imposes mainstream norms at the expense of disability culture. Thus, rather than reducing prejudice, such structured interactions may perpetuate the very stigma and misconceptions they are designed to eradicate. Moreover, as this chapter details, reverse mainstreaming can lead to distributional inequality when it comes to scarce resources. Combining insights from social psychology and disability studies, this chapter proposes guidelines for legal and policy reform aimed at ensuring that intergroup interactions in educational settings take more egalitarian forms. The second chapter, Inverse Integration and the Relational Deficit of Disability Rights Law, takes a broader perspective. It develops a typology of inverse integration practices and analyzes the interaction of such practices with existing U.S. disability law. It shows that legal and social norms generally hinder the involvement of nondisabled people in disabled spaces or activities. Against this backdrop, the seeming popularity of inverse integration is a puzzle. What is driving this practice? The answer has to do with relationships. Combining insights from sociology, anthropology, social psychology, disability studies, and law, this chapter demonstrates how inverse integration allows disabled and nondisabled people to share experiences, interests, and common language with family members, friends, and intimate partners. These interactive features of inverse integration stand in stark contrast to disability rights laws’ general failure to protect, facilitate, and reinforce interpersonal relationships. In a society where in-person interactions are becoming less and less common, these relational advantages of inverse integration seem particularly exigent. Drawing upon instances of inverse integration, this chapter imagines what a more relational disability rights regime would look like and proposes specific interventions. The third chapter, Gambling on disability Rights, identifies a barrier for inclusion of disabled athletes in elite sports: the regulation of sports betting. It argues that recently adopted rules of elite sports organizations, which ban the disclosure of material information that might be used for betting (“anti-tipping rules”), have a detrimental effect on athletes with psychosocial impairments (e.g., general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder). Because psychosocial impairments may significantly affect the ability of athletes to perform at the highest levels, anti-tipping rules prohibit athletes from disclosing their impairments. This forced secrecy, in turn, may adversely affect athletes’ mental health and might prevent them from claiming protections to which they are entitled under disability rights laws. Perhaps most importantly, given that athletes are public figures who serve as role models for many, these rules might perpetuate the stigma surrounding mental health in society at large. The chapter proposes strategies to resolve this problem by drawing on the rule against insider trading in securities law.

This study surveyed 107 working college students with varying disabilities. Individual, job, and organizational characteristics were evaluated for their ability to predict job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover cognitions. One area this characteristic that was explored was that of an individual's perception of organizational resources related to legally mandated reasonable accommodations. Using hierarchal regression this study found that self-efficacy, job characteristics, and means-efficacy were key predictors of job satisfaction. Means-efficacy was the only one of these that was a predictor of turnover intentions.

Thesis (MSc (Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy. Centre for Rehabilitation Studies))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Purpose To date no health policy analysis tool has been developed to analyse access and equity for people with disabilities. Further, there is very little information available on health and disability policy implementation. The intention of this research is to develop a health policy framework to analyse access and equity, focussing on people with disabilities, that can be used by policy makers. This research analyses four health policies and focuses on the facilitators and the implementation barriers. The findings of this research will impact on new policies developed in the future. Method The study included both a desk - top review and a descriptive study. The desk - top review entailed the formulation of a disability - focussed framework for health policy. This was then used to analyse health policies in terms of their disability inclusiveness. Qualitative data was gathered from interviews and questionnaires and focussed on policy processes and implementation. This was incorporated into the analysis. An ideal seven - step policy process model was developed. This was used to compare the reported policy process with the four policies followed. The four health policies used in the research are: the Primary Health Care Policy, the National Rehabilitation Policy, the Provision of Assistive Devices Guidelines and the Free Health Care Policy. Four key informants with extensive experience and knowledge were interviewed on policy processes and implementation. Questionnaires were also sent to Provincial Rehabilitation Managers to obtain their viewpoints on barriers and facilitators to policy implementation. Results Analysis of the four health policies showed varying levels of access and equity features. In terms of policy processes: all four policies had different stakeholders who initiated the policy development process. Two of the policies viz. the National Rehabilitation Policy and the Provision of Assistive Devices Guidelines, had people with disabilities as part of the stakeholder group involved in the policy formulation. The National Rehabilitation Policy had a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation section whereas this was absent in the other three policies. From the information gained from interviews and questionnaires, it appeared that the barriers to policy implementation included: attitudes, environmental access, human and financial resources. Facilitators to policy implementation include: policy process and design, availability of human and financial resources, support systems, management support, organisational structures and finally positive attitudes that all impacted favourably on policy implementation. Conclusions The developed health policy analysis framework served its purpose. Most policies did not have monitoring and evaluation guidelines that make implementation difficult to assess. Recommendations are made to improve policy design and content, specifically related to access and equity. Intersectoral collaboration and disability coordination needs to be improved. People with disabilities also need to engage with government departments, to monitor implemented policies and to advocate for change from outside the health system.

The evaluation of the implementation of disability policies is a result of the low rate of public participation in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature’s programs as well as the low number of disabled persons who are employed. Institutions like Parliaments and Legislatures are law making institutions, some of their tasks in to attract comments, suggestions and ideas from all interested parties to participate in the law making process. They also have a responsibility to conduct vigorous oversight over the provincial government departments; this includes issues like compliance with the relevant policies and regulations. The data was collect from three different groupings namely the staff of ECPL, the members of provincial legislature as well as the general public which includes disabled persons. It was clear from the findings that the management and the MPL, who are decision makers of the institution, have a very shallow knowledge of the disability policies and regulations. There is a disability strategy which was made for all the legislatures and National Parliament; however the strategy has not been implemented in ECPL. The institution has to create a special programs unit that will promote equality in line with the Bill of Rights which enshrines the rights of all people in the country and affirms the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom. The recommendations that were made included education and awareness programs and compliance with regulations like the Employment Equity Act that seeks to unsure that the employment equity targets are met.

Since 1994, various policies and guidelines, pertaining to the employment of people with disabilities have been promulgated. All of these policies highlighted the importance of employment equity and equality within the working environment. Despite all these policies and guidelines people with disabilities are still experiencing barriers within the working environment. These barriers prevent them from functioning optimally and equally alongside able-bodied colleagues. The requirements of people with disabilities are still not integrated into the general considerations of the workplace. In order to determine what factors people with physical disabilities perceive as important with regard to equality in the workplace, a combination of a qualitative and quantitative research approach were followed. Both convenient and Snowball/Chain sampling was utilised to identify the research participants. The data was gathered by means of an intensive literature study, as well as utilisation of surveys and interviews. After analysing the data, specific conclusions could be made. The sample was not representative of the total population, so these conclusions could not be generalised, it could however indicate certain trends. The conclusions with regard to the study could be utilised to improve the management of employees with physical disabilities in order to promote workplace equality. Certain recommendations in this regard have been made. Recommendations on how social workers could assist with the attainment of workplace equality for employees with disabilities have also been made. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science)

Since 1994, various policies and guidelines, pertaining to the employment of people with disabilities have been promulgated. All of these policies highlighted the importance of employment equity and equality within the working environment. Despite all these policies and guidelines people with disabilities are still experiencing barriers within the working environment. These barriers prevent them from functioning optimally and equally alongside able-bodied colleagues. The requirements of people with disabilities are still not integrated into the general considerations of the workplace. In order to determine what factors people with physical disabilities perceive as important with regard to equality in the workplace, a combination of a qualitative and quantitative research approach were followed. Both convenient and Snowball/Chain sampling was utilised to identify the research participants. The data was gathered by means of an intensive literature study, as well as utilisation of surveys and interviews. After analysing the data, specific conclusions could be made. The sample was not representative of the total population, so these conclusions could not be generalised, it could however indicate certain trends. The conclusions with regard to the study could be utilised to improve the management of employees with physical disabilities in order to promote workplace equality. Certain recommendations in this regard have been made. Recommendations on how social workers could assist with the attainment of workplace equality for employees with disabilities have also been made. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science)