Literature on the siblings of disabled children has been dominated by western psychosocial theories that focus on stresses associated with being a ‘young carer’ or on children as active agents realising their ‘rights’ rather than as the victims of familial expectations. This article presents the findings of a visual ethnographic study exploring the lives of nine children living with an autistic sibling in South Korea (hereafter Korea). Despite personal challenges and family tensions, experiences of ‘being’ a sibling were strongly influenced by Confucian familist cultural values in which sacrifice plays a central role in achieving honourable and harmonious family life.
In South Korea, disability and immigration are hidden and invisible phenomena. This article examines how immigrant mothers experience the intersection of immigrant status and mothering a disabled child. Through semi-structured interviews with 16 immigrant mothers, this study found that the values of Confucian familism regarding motherhood and gender roles influenced how these immigrant mothers behaved. The study also found that immigrant mothers faced multiple forms of stigma and discrimination as a result of negative socio-cultural views of disability and immigration. Therefore, the article suggests a need for inter-professional, anti-oppression work strategies to support immigrant mothers of disabled children, along with education for social workers about these issues.
South Korea since 1945. • The Korean Disabled People's Movement first emerged at the end of the 1980s with a campaign to claim basic rights to life for disabled people and, since this time, the movement has hugely influenced welfare policies and Korean society. • Despite great achievements, the Korean Disabled People's Movement struggles to change Korean society and culture, in which disabled people still are marginalised, oppressed, discriminated and excluded. • Future challenges for the Korean Disabled People's Movement are also discussed. Table 1. Key nationwide Korea Disabled People's Movement Organisations. Korea Federation of Korea Differently Abled Federation Values Disability and human rights Members Disabled people's organisations and supporting organisations Organisation of the Disabled Dang-Sa-Ja-Juwui and disability rights Disabled people's organisations (physical impairment) The Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination Democratic movement Disabled people's organisations and citizen-activist organisations Main methods of taking action Making policy and legislation proposals relating to disability CILs Public protests disabled persons. As a result of the activism in the Disabled People's Movement, Korean society's view of disabled people has slowly changed from considering them to be strangers to regarding them as human beings (Kwon and Noh 2009). Another example is 'Disabled Persons' Day', which was established in 1991 to raise public awareness about disabled people and to promote their rights. Through direct and indirect actions of disabled people's organisations (DPOs), where the authors as non-disabled activists and academics were also involved, the Korean Disabled People's Movement has played a central role in introducing and revising disability policies that enhance disabled people's rights. Despite these achievements, many issues continue to affect disabled people in Korea. Disability is still predominantly viewed through the lens of conservative culture and medical practice; for instance, the Disability Grading System still operates based on medical assessment. Disabled people continue to be discriminated directly or indirectly and treated unequally in every sector of Korean society. Consequently, the Korean Disabled People's Movement continues to work toward ensuring that disabled people's voices are heard. Nevertheless, the history of the Korean Disabled People's Movement has not been well documented because disabled activists had predominantly focused on direct and indirect activism and less on writing histories or engaging in theoretical reflection on the activism of the Disabled People's Movement. As a result, there are very few sources available which discuss the development of the Korean Disabled People's Movement, and they were generally written by non-disabled activists and academics such as the authors who have closely worked with/for disabled people's organisations (e.g. Yu 2004; Lee 2005; Kim 2012). This paper has analysed their work. To analyse detailed information about key di...
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