Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Using Popular Media To Help Preservice Teachers Understand Disability

Hazel A. Jones, Ph.D.
University of Florida
hajones@coe.ufl.edu
Johnell Bentz
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
jbentz@uiuc.edu

Abstract

This paper discusses issues related to the portrayal of persons with disabilities in popular media. A brief review of research related to disabilities in the media is presented that includes models of disabilities portrayed in the news media and films. An assignment used in an introduction to special education course is described. Themes that resulted from the assignment are presented.

Using Popular Media To Help Preservice Teachers Understand Disability

            Popular media can enhance knowledge and promote social awareness of disabilities or it can reinforce negative stereotypes. A significant body of research is available that indicates entertainment and news media have considerable influence on public attitudes towards a minority group, both the positive and negative (see Farnall & Smith, 1999). In their review of studies of persons with disabilities in the media, Farnall and Smith found a number of common stereotypes. These include portrayal of the person as a victim, as one who lashes out against society, as someone who is a burden to their family and friends, or as the person who triumphs against all odds to overcome. A study of newspaper coverage of persons with disabilities found that references to individuals with disabilities were frequent but tended to be in the form of “soft” news or feature, that were more emotionally charged, used stereotypical references, and emphasized the negative impact of the disability on the persons life (Keller & Hallahan, 1990).

            Clogston (1990) developed five models of news media representations of disability that include: 1) the medical model in which the disability is presented as an illness causing a state of dependency; 2) the social pathology model in which people with disabilities are presented as disadvantaged relying on society for economic support; 3) the supercrip model in which the person with a disability is considered “special” because he exhibits some extraordinary talent or manages to live a typical life in spite of his disability; 4) the civil rights model where people from the disabilities community have civil rights grievances; and finally 5) the cultural pluralism model where people with disabilities are seen as multifaceted portrayed as nondisabled would be.   Haller (1995 cited in Haller 2000) added three additional models taking into consideration media elements after the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).   These models include: 1) the business model where meeting the needs of accessibility are considered costly to business and society; 2) the legal model where the rights of people with disabilities are such that suits to stop discrimination may be necessary; and 3) the consumer model that considers people with disability a consumer group that has new potential profitability.

            Images of people with disabilities in film have also been investigated. From an analysis of over 300 films dating from the 1890s to the 1990s, Nordon (1994) described 10 stereotypes that invoke images of pity, wonder, fear, and humor while perpetuating a theme of isolation. When Wolfson & Norden, (2000) divided the movies into three historical periods, they discovered that while the theme of isolating people with disabilities in films is still evident, there is a general sense of progress. For example during the first period from 1890s to 1930s, the primary portrayals of disabilities lacked complexity and inclined toward exploitation in characterizations such as an aged person with a disability who is easily fooled, or the person who receives a miracle cure. The second period, from World War II into the 1970s images were somewhat more enlightened and included characters the talented sports figure or artist does not permit their disability to interfere with their goals. Movies made during the third period, from the 1970s through the end of the 1990, began to include people with disabilities more incidentally, i.e., as people who happen to have a disability. This progression suggests an improvement in understanding issues of disability.

            Considering the strong influence that popular media can play on how people view disabilities, two faculty decided to use it as a method to assist beginning special education students in understanding the concept of disability. Students in an introduction to special education course were asked to critically analyze the portrayal of persons with disabilities in several aspects of the media including books, films, and popular press. In addition, this activity was designed to promote students media literacy, that is, the ability to read, understand, and interpret the influence that the media may play in their lives.

Assignment Description

            The Disabilities in the Media assignment was designed as a way to help preservice teachers consider how people with disabilities are viewed in society. Popular media (books, movies, news) can be an effective tool for providing information on disabilities or it can provide harmful myths about disabilities.   The assignment was intended to increase teachers’ awareness of how different disabilities are portrayed in the media so they can be prepared to deal with possible negative stereotyping that may occur as a result of these portrayals.

            The assignment consisted of three sections. For the first section, students were required to read a book of fiction portraying persons with disabilities.   After reading the book, the students were to write a brief paper critically reviewing the book in terms of the accuracy of the portrayal of the persons with disabilities, any bias that was used to describe the persons with disabilities, and the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in the book.

            In the second section of the assignment, students were required to view a movie that portrayed persons with disabilities.   Similar to section one, students also prepared a brief paper addressing issues of character portrayal, bias, accuracy and completeness.   In addition, the students were to elaborate on whether their viewing of the movie or reading of the book helped them gain a better understanding of the disability portrayed.

            Finally in the third section, students were required to locate examples of how persons with disabilities are portrayed in news.   In this section students determined what disability was being reported in the news item, what tone was used in the presentation of the news item (e.g., positive, negative, or neutral), and to critique the news items on its portrayal of the person with the disability.

Students were assigned to work in small groups on the assignment entitled Disabilities in the Media.   Each group was given the option of selecting the various media to fulfill the requirements of the assignment.   A list of possible book and movies were available for the students, however the students were free to select books and/or movies that were not on the suggested list. One restriction was that the book had to be a fictional account featuring persons with disabilities. The particular disabilities portrayed across the three sections of the assignment did not have to be similar to one another.

            Each small group consisted of three to five students. Each group was provided very limited time within the class to work on the assignment, requiring the groups to communicate outside of class time.

Over Arching Themes

            Within each student group, popular media and current news stories were reviewed critically.   Several overarching themes emerged from each group as a result of comparing and contrasting books and movies featuring persons with disabilities.   A list of the popular media reviewed is included in the following table.

The first theme was related to the overgeneralization of the person with the disability in terms of defining characteristics. Students recognized that in several movies the character with a disability tended to have as many of the characteristics of the disability as possible. For example, in the movie Rainman, Raymond Babbitt, a middle aged man with autism who has lived in a residential institution most of his life is depicted as a savant, highly dependent on the routine of his living environment and daily schedule, sensitive to touch from other people, and unable to deviate from his daily routine in any way. While, many people with autism have some of these characteristics, a relative small percentage has all of these characteristics. In addition, the character fits Clogston’s supercrip model in which the character with a disability is “special” because he exhibits an extraordinary talent.

            The second theme that became apparent from the media critiques was the author or filmmaker’s use of pity to help the audience/reader understand the person with the disability. In the book Flowers for Algernon, the main character, Charly, is initially portrayed as an adult that acts as if he were a small child with little sense or intelligence. Because of his limited intellectual capacity, Charly is unaware that his coworkers are teasing and making fun of him while he considers these people to be his best friends. Norden (1994) referred to this character portrayal as the “Sweet Innocent”

            The third theme students identified from popular media about people with disabilities was one of educating the audience about the disability itself.   In the movie The Other Sister, the audience learns that the daughter with mental retardation is difficult to deal with at home.   The family opts to send her to an institution where she will live and go to school. However, the audience also learns about this daughter’s life as she finishes schools and returns home as a young adult. We learn of her desires to go to college, to live on her own, and to have an intimate relationship and marriage. Overall the audience is taught that people with disabilities have goals that can be accomplished, given appropriate supports from family, friends, and community, not unlike the support that nondisabled people received from their own family, friends and community. In some sense this movie illustrates the progression of portrayal of people with disabilities from exploitive to a more enlightened view.

            In another area, persons with disabilities are made to look as if they are living their lives as if fumbling along with no real plan for their own futures. Forrest Gump appears to be the “Comic Misadventurer” (Norden, 1994).   Through a series of outlandish coincidences in his life, Forrest becomes financially successful.   However this success was not due to his knowledge of the business world or in financial investments, but from his unorthodox behavior resulting in a positive outcome. For example, while working on his shrimp boat, Forrest decides to go shrimping during a huge tropical storm.   Taking the boat out in such bad weather seems like a foolish thing to do but when the storm destroys all of the shrimp boats that are docked, Forrest’s boat is one of few that remains. His business increases to the point where he is a major owner in the shrimp business.  

            Finally, a few of the media examples attempted to portray the lives of persons with disabilities as totally like those of the lives of persons without disabilities. In I Am Sam, Sean Penn portrays a man with a disability who struggles to raise his young daughter.   We see him deal with issues not unlike those that parents without disabilities encounter.   In this movie, we also see the societal bias that person with disabilities are inadequate as parents. The movie demonstrated many everyday issues facing persons with disabilities. One key element of this film is the inclusion of actors with real disabilities playing themselves. Few of the other popular movies reviewed for the assignment used actors with disabilities.

Conclusions

            The students were able to critically analyze the media elements chosen for review. Although improvement is noted in the portrayal of people with disabilities, these students were able to articulate the stereotyped images of people with disabilities still depicted in films and books. The work of McCombs and Shaw (1993) has shown that media “not only tell their audiences what to think about but how to think about certain issues and groups” (cited in Haller, p. 274). Given the ability of mass media (e.g., television, films, computer technology) to facilitate awareness of and characterize social groups, it is important that individuals are able to view these characterizations through a critical lens. Follow-up to these assignments needs also to include discussion with persons who have knowledge of disabilities to help understand the stereotypes encountered. Ideally, the introduction to special education courses will include interactions with people with disabilities.

References

            Clogston, J. S. (1990). Disability coverage in 16 newspapers. Louisville: Advacado Press.

Farnall, O. & Smith, K. A. (1999). Reactions to people with disabilities: Personal contact versus viewing of specific media portrayals.   Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(4), 659-672.

Haller, B. (2000). If they limp, they lead? News representations and the hierarchy of disability images. In D. O. Braithwaite & T. L. Thompson (Eds.), Handbook of communication and people with disabilities: Research and application. (pp. 289-305). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

            Keller, C. E. & Hallahan, D. P. (1990).   The coverage of persons with disabilities in American newspapers. Journal of Special Education, 24(3), 271-282.

            Nordon, M. F. (1994). The cinema of isolation: A history of physical disability in the movies. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

            Wolfson, K, & Nordon, M. F., (2000). Film images of people with disabilities. In D. O. Braithwaite & T. L. Thompson (Eds.), Handbook of communication and people with disabilities: Research and application. (pp. 289-305). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

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