The policy of equal opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities and symbolic violence

Abstract

Currently we are witnessing the clash of two trends in social policy towards people with intellectual disabilities. The first stems from the idea of equality, it is predominant and is well rooted in the public consciousness. The second, due to the diversity of ideas, is an announcement non-heterosexual people or former prisoners. of the upcoming changes. The idea of diversity has already had an impact on social policy towards.
I deal with questions relating to the first stream – the policy of equal opportunities. The article is empirical. I analyze the practice of professional activation of people with intellectual disabilities in the context of equal opportunities policy, which is an exemplification of symbolic violence contained in the way of understanding the concept of “a person with intellectual disabilities”. I try to show that the theoretical constructs, promoted by the experts of the dominant public discourse, impose ways of working within the framework of social policy. The construct “mentally retarded” harnesses the essence of being a handicap, and construct “a person with intellectual disabilities” throws out intellectual disability, making handicapped Normals harder educated. In this way, the language allows the operation of a discriminatory nature in the name of noble ideas.