Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system

A growing number of young people in Sweden with intellectual disability have organized themselves during the last 15 years in self-advocacy groups for socializing, empowerment, and expressing opposition to the norms and attitudes in a society that labels them as disabled. At the same time, the Swedi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Magnus Tideman, Ove Svensson
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Taylor & Francis Group 2015-03-01
Series:	International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being
Subjects:	Self-advocacy intellectual disability welfare system empowerment
Online Access:	http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/25100/39204

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spelling	doaj-952d796f6c6d455eaa54f17d58939cdf2020-11-24T23:01:19ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being1748-26312015-03-011001810.3402/qhw.v10.2510025100Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare systemMagnus Tideman0Ove Svensson1 School of health and social science, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden School of health and social science, Halmstad University, Halmstad, SwedenA growing number of young people in Sweden with intellectual disability have organized themselves during the last 15 years in self-advocacy groups for socializing, empowerment, and expressing opposition to the norms and attitudes in a society that labels them as disabled. At the same time, the Swedish welfare system has transformed dramatically with processes of far-reaching individualization, closure of the major institutions, decentralization of responsibility from the state to local governments, and an emerging welfare market where service users are turned into customers. The aim of this article is to analyse and discuss the significance of self-advocacy in the new welfare context. Data were collected over a period of more than 10 years using repeated interviews with members of two self-advocacy groups and participation observations. Findings suggest that participation in self-advocacy groups opens up members for increasing health and well-being through new roles and identities, and it strengthens their control over everyday life. Support is still needed, however, but in new ways; otherwise, the restrictions of the institutions will simply be reconstructed in the new welfare system.http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/25100/39204Self-advocacyintellectual disabilitywelfare systemempowerment
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Magnus Tideman Ove Svensson
spellingShingle	Magnus Tideman Ove Svensson Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being Self-advocacy intellectual disability welfare system empowerment
author_facet	Magnus Tideman Ove Svensson
author_sort	Magnus Tideman
title	Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system
title_short	Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system
title_full	Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system
title_fullStr	Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system
title_full_unstemmed	Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system
title_sort	young people with intellectual disability—the role of self-advocacy in a transformed swedish welfare system
publisher	Taylor & Francis Group
series	International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being
issn	1748-2631
publishDate	2015-03-01
description	A growing number of young people in Sweden with intellectual disability have organized themselves during the last 15 years in self-advocacy groups for socializing, empowerment, and expressing opposition to the norms and attitudes in a society that labels them as disabled. At the same time, the Swedish welfare system has transformed dramatically with processes of far-reaching individualization, closure of the major institutions, decentralization of responsibility from the state to local governments, and an emerging welfare market where service users are turned into customers. The aim of this article is to analyse and discuss the significance of self-advocacy in the new welfare context. Data were collected over a period of more than 10 years using repeated interviews with members of two self-advocacy groups and participation observations. Findings suggest that participation in self-advocacy groups opens up members for increasing health and well-being through new roles and identities, and it strengthens their control over everyday life. Support is still needed, however, but in new ways; otherwise, the restrictions of the institutions will simply be reconstructed in the new welfare system.
topic	Self-advocacy intellectual disability welfare system empowerment
url	http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/view/25100/39204
work_keys_str_mv	AT magnustideman youngpeoplewithintellectualdisabilitytheroleofselfadvocacyinatransformedswedishwelfaresystem AT ovesvensson youngpeoplewithintellectualdisabilitytheroleofselfadvocacyinatransformedswedishwelfaresystem
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Young people with intellectual disability—The role of self-advocacy in a transformed Swedish welfare system

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