Disability, Stigmatization, and Children's Developing Selves

"Stigmatization is part of the everyday lives of children with disabilities, their families and friends. Negative social encounters, even with perfect strangers, can dampen joyful occasions, add stress to challenging situations, and lead to social isolation. In this book, we describe a program of research spanning a decade that seeks to understand disabilities in their developmental and cultural contexts. We are especially interested in understanding adults' socialization practices that promise to reduce stigmatization in the next generation. Guided by developmental cultural psychology, including the concept of "universalism without uniformity", we focus on the understandings and responses to disability and associated stigmatization of elementary-school educators practicing in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the US. Educators from all four cultural groups expressed strikingly similar concerns about the impact of stigmatization on the emerging cultural self, both of children with disabilities and their typically developing peers. Educators also described culturally nuanced socialization goals and practices pertaining to inclusive education. In Japan, for instance, educators emphasized the importance of peer group belonging and strategies to support the participation of children with disabilities. In the U.S., educators placed relatively more emphasis on individual development and discussed strategies for the equitable treatment of children with disabilities. Educators in Taiwan and South Korea emphasized the cultivation of compassion in typically developing children. The understanding gained through examination of how diverse individuals address common challenges using cultural resources available in their everyday lives provides important lessons for strengthening theory, policy and programs"--