Using Crip Theory to Reimagine Student Development Theory as Disability Justice

Abstract

Wading into the third wave of student development theory, we used crip theory to reimagine nonableist student development theory. Based on data from an intersectional study of college students with physical disabilities, we analyzed the narratives of two participants. Cripping these narratives revealed how framing student development theory through an interdependence framework disrupts the independent/dependent binary that marginalizes disabled students as less developed or nonexistent. Practical implications of this reframing are rooted in disability justice, suggesting contexts that foster an interdependent framework.