Social Images of Disability in Lithuanian Daily Newspapers

• Published in: Socialinis darbas 2013, Vol.12 (1), p.75-92
• Main Authors: Raudeliūnaitė, Rita, Šavareikaitė, Diana
• Format: Article
• Language: Lithuanian
• Subjects: Social Sciences
• ISSN: 1648-4789

Social images of disability are one of the most important problems in the psychosocial structure of the phenomenon of disability. It allows not only to analyse the prevailing trends, approaches or values, which are constructing disability, but also to identify the conception of disability, which is accepted in a particular society as a result of certainsocial representation of disability, methods of integration of people with disabilities, actions of social policy, the rate of social exclusion or inclusion of people with disabilities. Not every individual encounters disability personally, therefore, the cognition of this phenomenon occurs through intermediaries. Mass media (television, the press, internet and others) most frequently serve as such intermediaries. Mass media not only reflects certain constructs of social reality, but also possesses the power to create them. Therefore, to a large extent, public opinion, attitudes and behaviour encouraged by them depend on the ability of mass media to select, define and present certain phenomena. The attitude towards the disability presented in mass media influences the formation of the identity of the disabled, the perception of the social phenomenon of disability and determines the status and roles of persons with disabilities in society. Current scientific discourse shows that research on social images of disability is relevant. According to Ruškus and Mažeikis (2007), this research may facilitate revelation of definitions of (ab)normality, how disability is structured and what models of behaviour and relations with persons with disabilities are presupposed. It has been noticed that the representation of disability most frequently contains negative connotations because of the associations ascribed to disability. Therefore, in striving for full integration of people with disabilities into society, it is necessary to identify destructive constructs and replace them with a change-centred attitude. The goal of the research is to reveal peculiarities of social images of disability, which are represented in the daily newspapers of Lithuania. The method of document analysis was chosen, which allows for an objective evaluation of the nature of disability constructs published in the daily newspapers during the determined period. The qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the selected texts was conducted applying the method of document analysis. The article focuses on presentation of results of qualitative