Diferencias Naturales Diferencias Sociales: Construcciones Sociales en torno a la Discapacidad
by Gerardo Gacharná, Claudia Saavedra & Oscar Cañón (Thesis Director)
Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá, Colombia
April, 2006
In our thesis, Natural Difference is a form of discourse that
highlights human biological differences and Social Difference is a
particular kind of meaning constructed within relationship, which takes
into account the discourse of Natural Difference and is expressed in
the way people treat each other. Disability is a type of Natural
Difference. The World Health Organization has published numerous
classification manuals about disability and each one proposes a
different discourse. In our study, we first interpreted the kind of
social relations invited by each disability discourse promoted by the
WHO, and then participated within a mainstream classroom, taking into
account the interactions between a student diagnosed with a disability
and her classmates and their narratives about events between them.
Finally we related those interactions and narratives with the types of
relations invited by each WHO discourse. All this to suggest that
dividing humanity, as we have for so long, might not be the best way to
go about it.
Click here for PDF