5. Minority model

Contents: Disability as a form of social disadvantage, origins and development, parallels with other marginalised groups.

The minority model interprets disability as a form of social disadvantage, comparable to the experiences of other groups facing discrimination. The focus is not on functional limitations, but on mechanisms of exclusion, stigmatisation and a lack of equality.

The model has its roots in US civil rights movements and political struggles for emancipation. Its emergence can be seen as an important step towards moving away from viewing disability purely from a welfare perspective and making it visible as a political category (Hirschberg, 2022, p. 99).

Even without a shared cultural tradition, people with disabilities can be regarded as a social minority. Like other minorities, they face social prejudice, stereotyping and stigmatisation, which manifest themselves, amongst other things, in segregated educational pathways, higher unemployment and limited social participation. Added to this are numerous architectural, transport and institutional barriers that hinder access to social, economic and political spheres.

Visible disabilities also make it easier for mainstream society to distance itself from this group and, on the basis of prejudice, assign it a subordinate role. Finally, people with disabilities are also regarded as a minority because their physical characteristics are considered unchangeable and are not perceived as the result of personal choices.