‘Not Worth the Minimum Wage?’ Unpacking the Complexities of Intellectual Disability and its Intersection with Employment Structures

Dearing, Kim

doi:10.16993/sjdr.729

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(16 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is the loss of this job, that falls out of the bounds of work experience or volunteering, that is the route of frustration, and it is this type of work that she would like to re-engage with. Unregulated roles such as these are historically considered to be of a therapeutic nature (Reaume, 2004), yet my research explores how these positions are still prevalent (Dearing, 2020, 2021). Moreover, Scott (1969) explored how vocational services were used as a filtering mechanism to determine who was best placed to enter sheltered work programmes and who could meet the demands of competitive employment.…”

Section: Cooling the Mark Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work aspirations, intellectual disability and ‘cruelling out’ the mark in the job club

Dearing

2021

The Sociological Review

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article uses ethnographic data to explore the relationship between a job club facilitator and a job seeker with an intellectual disability, to illuminate the gulf between employment activation and the multifaceted everyday reality experienced through employment preparation activities, at a job club established for people with intellectual disabilities who are in receipt of social care. The focus of this article is the micro-interactions apparent within the job club that aligns with Goffman’s ‘cooling the mark’ framework, which is unpacked and extended. The strategies at play here refute the broader, individualised ‘welfare-to-work’ neoliberal rhetoric of employment being available to anyone who works hard enough to attain it. Instead, job seekers are reoriented to accept volunteering roles or dubious unpaid work which are presented as employment-like alternatives. Yet, Goffman’s concept is not static as he envisaged: it fluctuates. For, within this reorientation process, strategies are deployed onto individuals to ensure they are kept interested enough to both accept a lowered employment status, while simultaneously still encouraged to strive for paid work one day. As such, this article teases out the tension and paradox between the clusters of promises attached to work as ‘the good life’ together with everyday disabling experiences of cruel optimism by encouraging job seekers to accept non-normative forms of employment.

show abstract

Section: Cooling the Mark Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work aspirations, intellectual disability and ‘cruelling out’ the mark in the job club

Dearing

2021

The Sociological Review

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Paid employment has been shown to have positive impacts on people with learning disabilities (in much the same ways as for people without learning disabilities), including associations with improved physical and mental health, well‐being and autonomy (Jahoda et al, 2008; Robertson et al, 2019). These benefits are not automatic, and too often people with learning disabilities are exploited in jobs that are poorly paid or in hostile working environments, which do not provide the hoped‐for benefits of work (Dearing, 2020; Hall, 2004; Johnson & Walmsley, 2010). Most people with learning disabilities in paid employment also work under 16 h per week, most likely due to this being the maximum hours allowed before benefits are impacted (Hatton, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most people with learning disabilities in paid employment also work under 16 h per week, most likely due to this being the maximum hours allowed before benefits are impacted (Hatton, 2018). Many people with learning disabilities do not want or are not able to have a job (Giri et al, 2021) and pressure to get a job and the threat of benefits sanctions can lead to anxiety and distress (Dearing, 2020; Watts et al, 2014). However, paid employment can be beneficial for many people with learning disabilities, and these individuals have a right to appropriate, well‐supported employment (Assembly UN General, 2006; Department of Health, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“My name on the door by the Professor's name”: The process of recruiting a researcher with a learning disability at a UK university

Anderson

Keagan‐Bull

Giles

et al. 2022

Brit J Learn Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The advantages of including people with learning disabilities in research teams have been well described, but it is rare for researchers with learning disabilities to be employed at a university. This paper explores the extent to which university recruitment procedures are accessible to job applicants with learning disabilities. Methods We present reflections on the process of recruiting a Research Assistant with a learning disability onto a university research team. The recruitment process is described from the perspectives of the employee, line manager and Human Resources representative. Findings The recruiting manager and Human Resources representative had to make adjustments to a wide range of standard processes, including centralised online recruitment systems that were difficult to navigate, inaccessible job descriptions and difficult application forms. Finding workarounds to ensure reasonable adjustments were made was time‐consuming. The employee needed significant support from within his own networks to cope with the application process and had concerns about the potential impact of fixed‐term job contracts on future benefits. Despite our efforts, procedures remained difficult for the applicants to navigate. Conclusions Employing researchers with learning disabilities is important. Fundamental changes to job application systems are required, including easy‐to‐understand information, alternative formats of application forms, and support available where needed. Flexibility from the Human Resources departments is key. They will need support from teams with experience working with people with learning disabilities.

show abstract

“…It is now widely accepted that individual personal autonomy will be enhanced in societies which are productive in enabling individual citizens to become best self‐advisors on compliance to his/her expertise and lifestyle (Gumbis et al, 2017). Yet, far from living their lives just like other human beings, many people with intellectual disabilities are still more likely to experience discrimination (Pelleboer‐Gunnink et al, 2021), poverty (Park et al, 2017), poorer education, employment and health outcomes (Brennan & Browne, 2019; Dearing, 2020; Doyle et al, 2020; McCausland et al, 2020), restricted access to public life and denial of their most basic rights (Garcia Iriarte et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exercising autonomy—The effectiveness and meaningfulness of autonomy support interventions engaged by adults with intellectual disability. A mixed‐methods review

Carey

Ryan

Sheikhi

et al. 2022

Brit J Learn Disabil

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recommend all disabled people receive support to develop their autonomy. Subsequently, evolving models for supported decision-making and informed consent present guidance to enable autonomy support, which have relevance to people with intellectual disabilities. To date, reviews have explored how adults with intellectual disabilities exercise their autonomy or factors impacting the development of their self-determination. This review aimed to establish the effectiveness of 'autonomy support interventions' engaged by adults with intellectual disability and the meaning of these interventions to this cohort. Methods: A systematic search of Cinahl Complete, PsychINFO and Scopus databases was undertaken. The search was limited to studies published between 2000 and 2020. Identified citations were uploaded to EndNote X9, duplicates removed, search outputs imported into Covidence and titles and abstracts screened. Data were extracted using an amended JBI data extraction Tool. The search strategy is reported in the adapted PRISMA flow diagram. Findings: Twelve studies were included in the mixed methods review. Critical appraisal was undertaken using the Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool. These findings identified varied and creative autonomy support interventions utilised across ordinary activities with adults with intellectual disabilities. Conclusion: This review identifies the essential components of how autonomy support interventions can enhance ordinary experiences for adults with intellectual disabilities while enabling them to develop skill sets to be more self-directed in the choices they make.

show abstract

‘Not Worth the Minimum Wage?’ Unpacking the Complexities of Intellectual Disability and its Intersection with Employment Structures

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Work aspirations, intellectual disability and ‘cruelling out’ the mark in the job club

Work aspirations, intellectual disability and ‘cruelling out’ the mark in the job club

“My name on the door by the Professor's name”: The process of recruiting a researcher with a learning disability at a UK university

Exercising autonomy—The effectiveness and meaningfulness of autonomy support interventions engaged by adults with intellectual disability. A mixed‐methods review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About