Please check, just in case…

1. Please check, just in case…

2. APA Tip of the Day: Format of reference list • Your reference list should start with a heading – centered, with upper and lower caps. • Your references are organized alphabetically, by last name of first author. • The references are double spaced, no extra lines above or below each reference. • Use hanging indent for the references in the reference list – the first line starts at the left margin and all other lines in a reference are indented ½”.

3. Announcements • Reading review due now. • Your final assignment is due at the beginning of class in two weeks – at our last class meeting. Late papers will only be accepted in case of extreme emergency. • Do not come late to class in order to complete the assignment.

4. Quick questions or quandaries?

5. April 24, 2014 Social Construction of Disability in non-educational Social Institutions Today’s Readings: Parish & Saville (2006) AND Krogh & Johnson (2006)

6. What are “social institutions”? “Typically, contemporary sociologists use the term to refer to complex social forms that reproduce themselves such as governments, the family, human languages, universities, hospitals, business corporations, and legal systems. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-institutions/

7. What are “social institutions”? “Sociologists often reserve the term "institution" to describe normative systems that operate in five basic areas of life… the family, government, economy, education and religion.” http://www.sociologyguide.com/basic-concepts/Social-Institutions.php

8. What are “Social Institutions”? “One distinguishing characteristic of societies is the existence of a set of institutions. The popular usages of this term are imprecise and omit some important sociological considerations. An institution is not anyone or anything that is established and tra­ditional (for example, a janitor who has worked at the same school for forty-five years). An institution is not limited to specific organizations, such as a school or a prison or a hospital. An institution is much broader in scope and importance than a person, a custom, or a social organization… Eitzen & Baca-Zinn, 2001, p. 47

9. What are “Social Institutions”? …Institutions are social arrangements that channel behavior in prescribed ways in the important areas of social life. They are interrelated sets of normative elements— norms, values, and role expectations—that the people making up the society have devised and passed on to succeeding generations in order to provide permanent solu­tions to society’s perpetually unfinished business. Institutions are cultural impera­tives. They serve as regulatory agencies, channeling behavior in culturally prescribed ways.” Eitzen & Baca-Zinn, 2001, p. 47

10. What are “Social Institutions”? “…Institutions arise from the uncoordinated actions of multitudes of individuals over time. These actions, procedures, and rules evolve into a set of expectations that appear to have a design, because the consequences of these expectations provide solutions that help maintain social stability The design is accidental, however; it is a product of cultural evolution.” Eitzen & Baca-Zinn, 2001, p. 48

11. Quick Write: Provide examples from the assigned readings of ways in which social systems or institutions can create or exacerbate disabilities. Said another ways, how can the “actions, procedures, and rules” of social institution or systems create barriers or reduce opportunities for individuals identified with disabilities?

12. Social Security – What is it? Social Security is a mandated supplemental retirement system in the US that was established in 1935 as part of Roosevelt's New Deal. The intent of the Social Security program is to ensure a threshold subsistence level below which any worker who had paid into the program cannot fall. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-social-security.htm)

13. Social Security contd. Social security is the broad term for the range of financial benefits available to virtually all workers in America from the U.S. Federal Government. • Retirement • Disability • Survivor (http://foreignborn.com/selfhelp/social_sec/3what_social_security.htm)

14. Social Security contd. Social Security is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The three main programs that they administer are: • Social Security Survivors Benefits • Social Security Disability Benefits • Social Security Retirement Benefits (http://foreignborn.com/selfhelp/social_sec/3what_social_security.htm)

15. Social Security ~ Retirement Benefits • When you work and pay Social Security taxes, you earn “credits” toward Social Security benefits. • If you stop working before you have enough credits to qualify for benefits, the credits will remain on your Social Security record. If you return to work later on, you can add more credits so that you qualify. No retirement benefits can be paid until you have the required number of credits. Information from: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10035.html

16. Social Security ~ Retirement Benefits Your benefit payment is based on how much you earned during your working career. Higher lifetime earnings result in higher benefits. If there were some years when you did not work or had low earnings, your benefit amount may be lower than if you had worked steadily. Information from: www.ssa.gov/pubs/10035.html

17. Social Security ~ Disability Benefits • A person who works long enough at a job or jobs may be eligible for disability benefits (SSDI) if they have an impairment that limits their ability to work. • If a person has worked five of the past ten years before “becoming disabled”, they probably qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. Even part-time work is sufficient if the person has worked 20 out of 40 work quarters to qualify for benefits. www.nvo.com/beaulier/socialsecuritywhoqualifies/

18. Social Security ~ Who qualifies? • Those that do not qualify for social security disability (SSDI) benefits may still qualify for SSI benefits. These benefits generally pay a smaller monthly benefit to the recipient and may be reduced by household income attributed to relatives living in the same household as you. (http://www.nvo.com/beaulier/socialsecuritywhoqualifies/)

19. SSDi vs SSI • Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI): • Monetary benefits are determined by prior work and income. • Supplemental Security Income (SSI): • Monetary benefits are determined by income, regardless of work history. (http://www.ashcraftandgerel.com/ssdisab.html)

20. Social Security ~ Who qualifies? A disabled adult child who has attained the age of 19 and who can demonstrate that the onset of their disability occurred before the age of 22 may also seek social security benefits without demonstrating significant prior employment. In such a case, the adult child’s benefit would be based on a percentage of the applicant’s parent’s benefits. http://www.nvo.com/beaulier/socialsecuritywhoqualifies/

21. According to the Social Security Administration, a “disability" can be: • Physical, emotional, or some combination of both. • There is no all encompassing list of accepted disabilities. • Determination of impairment is made on a case by case basis. • The impairment must be severe enough prevent that person from working in any regular paying job for at least twelve (12) consecutive months.

22. The SSI Marriage penalty • According to the Balkus and Wilschke* (2003), “in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, for example, two recipients married to each other receive a benefit that is one-quarter less than if they simply lived together but not as husband and wife.” • The People First of Montana Campaign argues this pushes them even further below the poverty line. (e.g. $674 + $674 = $1011): http://www.disabilityrightsmt.org/janda/inner.php?PageID=64 *http://www.socialsecurity.gov/policy/docs/issuepapers/ip2003-01.html

23. Whole Group Discussion So what? If two people live together without a formal marriage, why isn’t that good enough? Isn’t this a lot of bother over an outdated social institution? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMaH7v5S27U&feature=related

24. Caution! Before we become “advocates” --charging off to fix ‘the system’ for people with disabilities, we need to: • Understand what people with disabilities want fixed – we must advocate with not for. • Fix our own handicapist attitudes and behaviors.

25. Please take a minute for the minute paper.