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Intellectual disabilities: Expanding the field of vision
Abstract
Ethical issues presented by people with intellectual disabilities (ID) and mental health problems are usually addressed by reference to rights, autonomy, choice, and inclusion. These liberal values provide certainty in the face of uncertain, complex situations. However, Deleuze argues that ethical vision expands more effectively by sitting with repetition: the most obvious repetition in ID is scandals. Inquiries into the abuse of people in the community as well as hospital patients suggest that denial of difficulty associated with ID encourages denial of the difficulty experienced by staff and parents. They also show how an essentially contested dichotomy between medical and social models is played out, obscuring the significant emotional impact of ID on all parties, not least the individual's own sense of personhood. We argue for a triple shift in ethical thinking: from individual achievements to enduring relationships; from negative judgment to affirmative living; and from moral rules to practical action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)(chapter)
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Date
2015
Type
Book chapter
Subject
Intellectual disability, Ethics
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Citation
Clegg, J. & Jones, J. (2015). Intellectual disabilities: Expanding the field of vision. In: Sadler, J. Z., Van Staden, W. & Fulford, K. W. M. (eds.) The Oxford handbook of psychiatric ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 147-160.