SSSP 2026 Annual Meeting

Date: TBD

Time: TBD

CFP 28 - Regular: Families in Distress: Caregiving for and with Family Members with Disabilities and/or Social Identity Challenges
Room: TBD

Sponsors: Disability, Mental Wellness, and Social Justice
Family, Aging, and Youth

Organizer, Presider &

Discussant: Muhammed Faisol Olaitan, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

Description: 

As the first social institution, the family plays a vital role in the survival and growth of its members. Families provide resources, nurturance, socialization, development of life skills, and support. Yet achieving these goals often comes with stress as families experience transitions, unexpected events, and shifting societal and political realities—all of which may be intensified for families of people with disabilities. This session explores how families experience and navigate such challenges, with particular attention to the development and integration of a family member with disabilities. Families can simultaneously provide support and serve as sites of additional crises. This session focuses on research examining the reciprocal relationship between support and stress within and around the family.

Papers:

“‘We (Don’t) Want to Be Like Them’: Self-Identity and Dramaturgical Dilemmas among Alcohol Abstainers at the University of Botswana,” Tebogo B. Sebeelo, University of Botswana

“Ajumobi O Kan T’Anu: Perpetrators of Victimization and the Effect on Women with Disabilities in Lagos State, Nigeria,” Muhammed Faisol Olaitan, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

“Between Joy and Social Exclusion: A Systematic Literature Review on the Recreational Sports Experiences of People with Overweight or Obesity,” Johannes Müller, University of Vienna

“Governance in Crisis, Families in Distress: Pandemic Management and Divorce across Nations,” Banafsheh Aghayeeabianeh, Arkansas State University, Janet P. Stamatel, University of Kentucky and Veena Kulkarni, Arkansas State University

“Narrative of Self-Care, Responsibility, and Moral Soundness in End-of-Life Social Care Services,” Rebecca M. Blackwell, University of South Florida and Marta C. Blackwell, Canadian Council for the Americas