Crippled Justice
The History of Modern Disability Policy in the Workplace
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Crippled Justice
The History of Modern Disability Policy in the Workplace
Crippled Justice, the first comprehensive intellectual history of disability policy in the workplace from World War II to the present, explains why American employers and judges, despite the Americans with Disabilities Act, have been so resistant to accommodating the disabled in the workplace. Ruth O’Brien traces the origins of this resistance to the postwar disability policies inspired by physicians and psychoanalysts that were based on the notion that disabled people should accommodate society rather than having society accommodate them.
O’Brien shows how the remnants of postwar cultural values bogged down the rights-oriented policy in the 1970s and how they continue to permeate judicial interpretations of provisions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In effect, O’Brien argues, these decisions have created a lose/lose situation for the very people the act was meant to protect. Covering developments up to the present, Crippled Justice is an eye-opening story of government officials and influential experts, and how our legislative and judicial institutions have responded to them.
O’Brien shows how the remnants of postwar cultural values bogged down the rights-oriented policy in the 1970s and how they continue to permeate judicial interpretations of provisions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In effect, O’Brien argues, these decisions have created a lose/lose situation for the very people the act was meant to protect. Covering developments up to the present, Crippled Justice is an eye-opening story of government officials and influential experts, and how our legislative and judicial institutions have responded to them.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. "Deform’d, Unfinish’d, and Maladjusted": The Psychoanalytical Model of Disability
2. From Warehouses to Rehabilitation Centers: Restoring the Whole Man
3. From the Whole Man to the Whole Family: Rehabilitating the Poor
4. An Accident of History: Rights and the Passage of the Rehabilitation Act
5. Court Constraints on Disability Rights
6. Two Horns of a Dilemma: The Americans with Disabilities Act
Afterword
Notes
Index
Introduction
1. "Deform’d, Unfinish’d, and Maladjusted": The Psychoanalytical Model of Disability
2. From Warehouses to Rehabilitation Centers: Restoring the Whole Man
3. From the Whole Man to the Whole Family: Rehabilitating the Poor
4. An Accident of History: Rights and the Passage of the Rehabilitation Act
5. Court Constraints on Disability Rights
6. Two Horns of a Dilemma: The Americans with Disabilities Act
Afterword
Notes
Index
Awards
Gustavus Myers Ctr/Study of Human Rights: Gustavus Myers Center Outstanding Book Award
Honorable Mention