A moral abyss?

摘要

In 1981 the predecessor of this illustrious publication, the Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, carried an article by Merry Cross, entitled 'The psychology of physical disability, helpful or harmful?' Cross concluded her article by suggesting 'the psychology of physical disability so far has rested on a stance that by ignoring the social realities of disability has perpetuated these realities (and the harm they do) for all people who are disabled, and harmed individual people who are disabled by suggesting that the answers to their problems lie within themselves' (p.458). Thirty-one years later it is depressing to find that the profession does not appear to have moved on or taken on board the voices of disabled people, and that psychological theory applied to the lives of disabled people has yet to adequately address the social and economic barriers to occupational and social participation in society.