Summer 2010 Disabilities Division Society for the Study of Social Problems Statement from the Chair Val Leiter Dear Friends and Colleagues, July 26th marks the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA has had a rocky first 20 years. Multiple challenges in the Supreme Court whittled down the scope of the legislation considerably by excluding people from coverage if they were able to mitigate the effects of their disability through medication or assistive devices. The 2008 ADA amendments widened the scope back out again, providing a social model definition of disability. (If you’re looking for some technical summer reading to balance out your beach novels, the current legislation is available at http://www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm.) Let’s celebrate the ADA in its current form, one that is consistent with a “social problems” perspective. Just a few weeks later, we meet in Atlanta. Please join us for our joint reception with other divisions, our business meeting, and our thematic session, “Disability, Voice, and Social Justice.” My thanks to Linda Morrison who organized the thematic panel—it looks terrific, with papers on distributive justice, Deafness, faculty accommodations under the ADA, critical race theory, and youth perspectives. We all rely upon SSSP for refreshing and critical perspectives on social issues, so come hear some good papers, participate in lively discussions, and come away with new ideas for your own work. See you in sultry Atlanta. Best, Val Leiter Please send any news of note to sessions the division is or a colleague for a position Alexis Bender, newsletter editor, at abender1@gsu.edu. 2 Division Events at the Annual Meeting Here is a quick guide for the division sponsored and co- sponsored events. Friday, August 13th 10:30 – 12:10 Health and Disabilities Georgia 11 12:30 – 2:10 Disabilities Division Meeting Georgia 13 4:30 – 6:10 Thematic: Disability, Voice, and Social Justice Georgia 11 Sunday, August 15th 10:30 – 12:10 Texts, Mental Health/Disability and the Social Organization of Inequality Georgia 8 Co-Sponsored with: Institutional Ethnography and Mental Health 12:30-2:10 Persistent Inequalities: Considering Intersectionalities Georgia 8 Co-Sponsored with Labor Studies, Poverty, Class, and Inequality, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, and Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities Call for Nominations Please consider nominating yourself or a SSSP colleague for a general elected office. The deadline for nominations is July 15th, and nomination information is available at: http://www.sssp1.org/i ndex.cfm/pageid/1082/ Graduate Student Paper Winner!! Congratulations go to Robyn Lewis Brown for her winning paper, “Perceived Stigma among People with Physical Disabilities: The Influence of Stress Exposure and Psychosocial Resources.” She will be presenting her paper on Saturday August 14th at 2:30 in Georgia 5. 3 Call For Papers Research in Social Science and Disability invites proposals for articles for a special issue on Disability and Community to be published in 2012. Proposals are welcome from individuals representing all social science disciplines, including anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology as well as related fields such as area studies, communications, law, and philosophy. The evolving and politically contested notion of community sits at the center of much of recent scholarship on disability. The special issue will bring together scholarship from multiple disciplines to explore issues related to Disability and Community, including but not limited to the interaction of systems of citizenship and rights with community participation; identification, representation, culture, and community; processes of community inclusion and exclusion; the relationship between political advocacy and disability community; the role of public policies, the law, and service delivery systems in promoting the incorporation or exclusion of people with disabilities into broader communities; cross-national studies of disability communities; the development of community among and across people with varying disabilities; the impact of recent demographic and economic changes on people with disabilities; the rise of virtual communities among people with disabilities; and the intersectionality of class, gender, race/ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation with disability community. Research in Social Science and Disability, Barbara Altman and Sharon Barnartt, overall editors, focuses on linkages between disability and the social and cultural environment. It is based upon the premise that disability is not purely a medical phenomena, but rather is based on the interaction between the social and physical environment and a person’s physical or mental state. This journal considers aspects of disabilities as viewed through the lens of the social sciences, broadly defined, including: history, economics, geography, political science, psychology, anthropology, sociology, demography, human development, family studies, and philosophy. It will consider all forms of disability, including mental and physical. Research in Social Science and Disability will not consider medical, clinical or rehabilitation aspects of disability, case studies, practice descriptions, or program evaluations. Submissions can include theoretical and critical papers, analyses based on qualitative as well as quantitative research methodologies, methodological or conceptual papers, and comprehensive reviews of the literature. All articles will be peer-reviewed by reviewers from the same disciplinary background. Paper proposals of 300-500 words should be submitted to co-editors Allison Carey or Richard Scotch, richard.scotch@utdallas.edu no later than October 1, 2010. Individuals whose proposals are selected will be notified in November 2010 and will be expected to submit their completed manuscript no later than March 31, 2011. All manuscripts submitted will be subject to peer review and possible revision prior to final acceptance for publication. 4 Laura Lorenz’s book -- the first in the new Lynne Rienner series Disability in Society, edited by Ron Berger—was released in April. Lorenz, Laura S. (2010). Brain Injury Survivors: Narratives of Rehabilitation and Healing. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. The book enters the world of three brain injury survivors through their photographs and stories and evokes survivor achievements and challenges in coping with their brain injuries and changed lives. The book tackles systemic problems that undercut the quality of medical and social support for brain injury patients worldwide, and describes a new approach to improving care for people living with brain injury. From our ASA Colleagues The ASA Disability and Society Section-in-Formation is still working hard to reach their goal of 300 members by September. If you are an ASA member and are not currently a member of the section-in-formation, please consider joining the section in time for the annual meetings. There are funds available for FREE graduate student memberships. Please contact Val Leiter at Valerie.leiter@simmons.edu for more information. The section is also hosting a reception at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis on Saturday at 6:30 pm. News of Note Do you have News of Note?? Please send information to Alexis Bender at abender1@gsu.edu See you in Atlanta!!