BOOK REVIEW |
Disability and Social Policy in Britain Since 1750: A History of Exclusion. Anne Borsay. Published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. ISBN 0-333-91255-1. 306 pp. Price: £16.99.
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The structure of the book is well conceived. The excellent introductory chapter unravels the cardinal features of Britain between 1750 and 1979. It provides a conceptual framework which charts the shifting mixed economy of social policy, plots the evolution of citizenship and assesses the influence of economic rationality, power and resistance. There is a highly informative section on Measuring Disability, replete with source references, which itself is worth the purchase price of the book. The subsequent eight chapters are arranged into two sections flowing logically from one to another and rigorously explore institutional and community living.
The chapter on Hospitals is a gem. Studded with the testimonies of disabled people. The generally benign image of medical intervention loses much of its gloss. In the discipline of orthopaedics the principal historical focus was on a curative model of treatment which aspired to full recovery and where ‘attempts were made to bend the disabled body into the "normal" shape’. Additionally, the fragmented development of rehabilitation services (how this still rings true!) mitigated strongly against the achievement of personal autonomy by disabled people.
At a time when despite improvements in most objective measures of health, levels of disability and health-related work absence continue to increase, there is much to be learned from Professor Borsay's historical studies and her review of social policies post-1979. The emphasis on societal factors rather than reducing disability to a personal pathology is a message which occupational health professionals, policy makers and society as a whole cannot dismiss. It should be a source of reference and an enlightening read for every practising occupational health professional.
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