FAMILY NETWORKS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR ROLE IN PROMOTING THE EMPOWERMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

• Main Authors: Dorota Żuchowska-Skiba, Maria Stojkow
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wydawnictwa AGH 2018-12-01
• Series: Studia Humanistyczne AGH
• Subjects: disability; adulthood; family; support; empowerment
• Online Access: http://journals.bg.agh.edu.pl/STUDIA/2018.17.4/human.2018.17.4.51.pdf

Family members are the key source of social, emotional and financial assistance for people with disabilities throughout their lives. However, the role of the family undergoes significant changes in different periods of the life of people with disabilities. During childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, people with disabilities need other forms of support, which means that they undertake educational, professional or family activities related to starting their own families and bringing up children. Around that time, their relationship with the family is changing. The role of the family is becoming limited in the area of control and assistance in making life choices for people with disabilities. Our goal will be to reconstruct the family’s presence in social networks of adults and to identify socio‑demographic and emotional factors that affect the number of contacts with the family. This will be the starting point for presenting the impact of family relationships on strengthening empowerment and promoting self‑determination among adults with disabilities. The analysis will be based on data from Social Diagnosis 2015.