Chapter 8: Disability and Community Life: Mediating Effects of Work, Social Inclusion, and Economic Disadvantage in the Relationship Between Disability and Subjective Well-Being

The Social Model of Disability, which views social and economic barriers rather than individual bodily differences as the main sources of disadvantage faced by people living with impairments, has gained considerable traction in the literatures of both disability studies and the sociology of disability over the past several decades. Despite this success, however, concern has been expressed that there is a dearth of empirical evidence to back Social Model claims that people with disabilities are not emotionally distressed by their bodily differences or functional limitations, but rather by the layers of social and economic disadvantage imposed on top of their impairments.

Using results of a community survey in a small town in Florida, we examine the degree to which workforce participation and other social and economic disadvantages mediate the relationship between subjective well-being and the presence of functional impairments or self-described disability identity.

We find that study participants who report functional impairments or identify as disabled report lower levels of subjective well-being than participants who do not. Findings also suggest, however, that these differences in subjective well-being can be explained by lack of workforce participation and other aspects of social inclusion and economic disadvantages that are associated with functional impairment and disability identity. Results indicate that work is one, but not the only, important aspect of community participation that mediates between disability experience and well-being. Results also problematize the conflation of functional impairment and disability identity.

Findings point to a need for future qualitative and quantitative research to address differences between functional impairment status and disability identity and to evaluate the relative importance of work and other forms of social inclusion and access to economic recourses to the well-being of people living with impairments and disability.

Findings of this study provide empirical support for, but also add complexity to, the Social Model perspective. They can be used to provide guidance to community leaders in terms of ways in which the lives of residents with disabilities might be improved.