Policies to change attitudes to people with disabilities

Abstract

Negative attitudes are a major barrier to the equality of people with disabilities. Governments and other organizations have implemented numerous programmes to change attitudes towards people with disabilities. We analyse published evidence about the effectiveness of such programmes using a framework of the interrelationship among three levels of policy intervention to change attitudes: personal leveldirected at changing the attitudes of individuals; organizational levelconcerning attitudinal barriers in domains such as employment, education and health; and government levellegally mandating behaviour change. The analysis finds that the following policy types can be effective if used together: policies that involve direct contact with people with disability; information and awareness campaigns; education and training about disability; and antidiscrimination enforcement. Policy characteristics that contribute to effectiveness include a positive programme experience for participants; multifaceted and prolonged interventions; and adequate programme resources. Policy effectiveness to change attitudes relies on corresponding reinforcement at all three policy levels. ARTICLE HISTORY

The Impact of a Brief Meeting on Employer Attitudes, Knowledge, and Intent to Hire

“…However, experimental studies utilizing contact alone as a method to change attitudes toward people with disabilities have been less successful (Anthony, 1972;Donaldson, 1980). Research supports the idea that the contact between the person with a disability and participants needs to be of high quality (e.g., interactive, respectful, pleasant;McManus et al, 2010), needs to include information in addition to contact (Anthony, 1972;Daruwalla & Darcy, 2005;Fisher & Purcal, 2017;Hassanein, 2015;Krahe & Altwasser, 2006;Lee & Rodda, 1994), or should involve structured experiences or presentations by people with disabilities rather than unstructured interaction and should involve a person with a disability that is of equal status as the study participant (Desforges et al, 1991;Donaldson, 1980). These findings support Allport's intergroup contact hypothesis regarding the appropriate conditions necessary for contact to change attitudes.…”

An international study of public contact with people who have an intellectual disability

“…The intercountry differences in public contact is worthy of further enquiry beyond an individual's characteristics. This could include the extent of stigma associated with ID, the type and availability of services and supports provided to persons with ID, and the levels of socio‐economic development and inequality experienced within countries (Fisher and Purcal 2017). It is also possible that these as well as other factors may account for intracountry variations in public contact.…”

Social Dominance Orientation, Right‐Wing Authoritarianism, and Willingness to Carry out Three Domains of Socially Inclusive Behaviors in a Public Campaign

“…Despite the popularity of these public initiatives and media campaigns, there is little research examining the distinct domains of behaviors targeted by these campaigns and the motivations associated with people's willingness to carry out these behaviors. While social psychology to date has shown robust evidence for motivations driving prejudicial attitudes (McFarland, 2010; Sibley & Duckitt, 2008), it is necessary to consider both shifts in attitudes and behaviors for the success of social movements promoting equality and inclusion (Fisher & Purcal, 2017). Moreover, attitude change has a relatively weak correspondence with behavior change (Wicker, 1969) and may be a less malleable precursor to behavior given that attitudes take time to develop and are often embedded in personal experiences and long‐standing beliefs (Paluck, 2009; Tankard & Paluck, 2017).…”