1) That Social Representations of disability within society are stable, but not finite. The representations develop in relation to changes to
knowledge, culture and communication.
2) The use of Social Representation Theory is an important psychological tool in understanding people’s perceptions of disability and impairments because it focuses on the social component of individual and inter-group representation processes.
3) The use of multi-methodologies to determine a set of Social Representations is essential to corroborate and pin down the key Chapter 5: The Whole Story The Social Representations of Disability Michael Devenney components of any Social Representation. This was very important in this study because the storyboard materials were based on imagination and the print media studies were based on assumed facts. The Focus Groups were based on lived experiences. The overlap between these data outcomes was quite significant in
qualitative terms and with some statistical underpinning. It is clear that the living experience of disabled people is represented by the Social Representations defined in this study. These Social
Representations may change. However it may be possible now to track their development.
4) It has become clear that non-disabled people have different Social Representations of born disabled people to those of acquired disabled people. This is characterised by the underlying implication that acquired disabled people are essentially ‘normal’ because they were non-disabled before and that born disabled people are
actually different. This is an important psychological perception of impairment and is reflected in the treatment and services offered to born and acquired disabled people. For instance, acquired disabled children rarely go to segregated schools.
5) There is a noticeable difference in the occupational groups. This is most likely a consequence of knowledge base and training.
Ordinary people appear to have a much wider range
ลำดับ ข้อค้นพบในงานวิจัย องค์ความรู้ที่ได้รับจากการวิเคราะห์งานวิจัย
of Social Representations of disability than charity workers and medical professionals. This is an encouraging sign. It appears that the media has little or no impact on people’s Social Representations of
disability outside their normal schema of thought. The media will have some influence but it is not reflected in the evidence of this study.
6) There is an indication that images of disabled people produce more emotive and elaborate storylines than written text about disabled
Chapter 5: The Whole Story
The Social Representations of Disability Michael Devenney people. This may be because disability is often associated with visual difference and aesthetics.
7) All of the Social Representations identified in this study both in the storyboards and in the print media study were independently identified by the disabled people in the Focus Groups. Therefore it
is reasonable to deduce that these Social Representations of disability have a real material valence within society. This is an important finding because it allows disabled people and other professionals to focus their training, service developments and academic work in a more strategic way
Michael Devenney
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people. This may be because disability is often associated with
visual difference and aesthetics.
7) All of the Social Representations identified in this study both in the
storyboards and in the print media study were independently
identified by the disabled people in the Focus Groups. Therefore it
is reasonable to deduce that these Social Representations of
disability have a real material valence within society. This is an
important finding because it allows disabled people and other
professionals to focus their training, service developments and
academic work in a more strategic way