From Pathology to Power

Abstract

This paper explores the evolution of ideologies of race, poverty, and disability. Three models, identified as biological, cultural, and minority-group, are discussed. Throughout the twentieth century, biological and cultural models presented images of race, class, and disability in terms of deficiency and dependence. Biological models represented some minority groups as genetically inferior. Cultural models represented low-income minorities as trapped in an inescapable cycle of poverty. Both models represented minorities with disabilities as social victims or social threats or both. In contrast, the minority group model presents social and environmental explanations for continued economic disparity. However, this model does not adequately meet the needs of people of color with disabilities. Typically, disability is not included in theoretical formulations of race and class, whereas disability studies does not sufficiently consider the significance of racial, ethnic, and class differences. This paper presents an empowerment framework for considering the interrelation of race, class, and disability within the minority-group model of disability.