Inequality Based on Disability and Other Social Divisions
Disability is a further important dimension of social stratification, and sociologists distinguish two ways of understanding it.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the medical model of disability, impairment located in and treated as a problem of the individual, and the social model, disability created mainly by barriers society puts in the way, and state Mike Oliver's name when discussing the social model.
- Use at least one concrete example of a social or structural barrier, e.g. an inaccessible building, an inflexible working pattern, a lack of adapted transport, to show the difference between an impairment and a disabling barrier.
- Learn at least one concrete inequality disabled people experience, expressed as a pattern rather than an invented statistic, e.g. lower average employment rates and higher average poverty rates compared with non-disabled people.
- Define globalisation as growing economic, cultural and political interconnection between countries, and learn Sklair's concept of a transnational capitalist class that operates across borders.
- Learn how globalisation can widen international inequality, using the example of global supply chains moving production to lower-wage countries, so that most of the value created flows to shareholders and executives elsewhere.
- For an evaluation question, weigh a structural, social-model or globalisation-based explanation of a given inequality against an alternative, e.g. individual or medical, or national rather than global, explanation, and reach a supported conclusion.
Worked example
A wheelchair user cannot get to a job interview because the office has no ramp or lift, even though they are fully qualified for the role. Using the social model of disability, explain why this is best understood as a social, rather than individual, problem.
- Identify the barrier in the scenario: the building's lack of a ramp or lift, not the person's underlying impairment, using a wheelchair, is what prevents access.
- Recall the medical model's alternative view, for contrast: it would locate the 'problem' in the individual's impairment itself.
- Apply the social model: Mike Oliver's social model argues people are disabled by barriers society creates, such as inaccessible buildings, rather than by the impairment alone.
- Show why the scenario supports the social model: the person is fully qualified, so their impairment is not what prevents them getting the job, the building's design is.
- Conclude with the implication: removing the structural barrier, installing a ramp or lift, would remove the disadvantage, which supports treating this as a social problem to be fixed in the environment, not a problem to be fixed in the individual.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What is the medical model of disability?Show answer
Answer: A model that treats disability as located within the individual, as a physical or mental impairment that limits what they can do and needs to be treated or managed.
Q2What is the social model of disability, and who is associated with it?Show answer
Answer: A model, associated with Mike Oliver, that argues people are disabled mainly by barriers built into society, such as inaccessible buildings or negative attitudes, rather than by their own impairment.
Q3Give one example of a 'disabling barrier' under the social model, other than an inaccessible building.Show answer
Answer: Inflexible working practices that do not allow for a disabled employee's needs, or a lack of accessible public transport.
Q4Define globalisation.Show answer
Answer: The growing economic, cultural and political interconnection of countries around the world.
Q5What is Sklair's 'transnational capitalist class'?Show answer
Answer: A class of executives and investors who operate across national borders rather than being tied to a single country, and who benefit from the global organisation of production and trade.
Q6Explain, using an example, how globalisation can widen inequality between countries.Show answer
Answer: When a company moves production to a country with lower wages and weaker labour protections, workers there receive a much smaller share of the value created than shareholders and executives based in richer countries, widening the gap between them.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two differences between the medical model and the social model of disability.
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Discuss the view that disabled people's inequality is best explained by the social model of disability rather than the medical model. Use sociological evidence in your answer.
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See real GCSE Sociology past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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