The impact of disability on self and society: An agenda for research on rehabilitation of disabled in Nigeria

Abstract

Disability requires a complete reorientation of roles by the individual. The disabled individual's redefinition of roles takes place through social interaction with his family, friends, co workers, other disabled persons and members of his community and the medical staff as well as rehabilitation officers. The important difficulty for the disabled is that his disability affects his interaction with others. He cannot rely on old patterns and role expectations. He must therefore reconstruct many of his social relationships with others as he rebuilds his roles and modifies his self-identity. This paper is divided into five major sections. The first section deals with the introduction. The second section is on the conceptual explanations for disability and rehabilitation. It also situates the concepts within relevant theoretical frame of reference(s). The third section is to do with the description of the onset of disability and its consequences. The fourth section explains the effects of disability on values and normative structures. The fifth, which is the final section, is an analysis of rehabilitation as socialization or re-socialization process and its prospects and challenges for the future which may necessitate setting up an agenda for further research in Nigeria. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.