Between Education and the Labour Market: People With Intellectual Disabilities and Their Environment in a Vicious Circle of Work Perception.

Background

Despite extensive debate on social policy and the growing range of instruments aimed at professional activation, the employment rate of people with intellectual disabilities remains low. This study seeks to identify the underlying causes of this situation.

Method

The research is based on 132 in-depth interviews conducted in Poland with people with intellectual disabilities and members of their immediate social environment. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology.

Results

Prevailing social perceptions frame work for people with intellectual disabilities as largely theoretical, rendering it a distant and often unattainable aspiration. This dynamic contributes to a self-reinforcing cycle of beliefs about the employability of this group.

Conclusions

A fundamental barrier lies in the still incomplete global transformation in thinking about disability-from a charitable-medical model toward a social and human rights model. The Findings reveal the potential for change in local communities where such a transformation is already underway.