Cross-Cultural Analyses of Elementary School Educators' Perceptions of Stigma, Disability, and Development in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S

Background/Purpose:

Stigmatization of individuals with disabilities is a widespread social justice issue faced by social workers in various fields. This study examines how children with disabilities and their typically-developing peers navigate disability and associated stigma through cross-cultural analyses of the perspectives of elementary-school educators from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S.  We conducted this study sensitized by concepts from cultural psychology (Miller, Hengst & Wang, 2003) including “universalism without uniformity” (Shweder & Sullivan, 1993), i.e., certain phenomena and issues, such as stigmatization of children with disabilities by their peers, are common across diverse cultural groups (see Authors, 2014), but cultural groups vary in how they are understood and experienced.  The examination of the perspectives of East Asian educators who are exquisitely sensitive to stigma provides us with ideas for developing stigma-sensitive programs to support children. Our research question is: What common and distinct perspectives do U.S. and East Asian educators have of the role of disability and stigma on the experiences of children with disabilities and their peers?  

Methods:

In-depth, semi-structured, audio-recorded individual interviews were conducted with 18 U.S., 26 Japanese, 43 Korean and 16 Taiwanese educators, including school social workers, in their native languages.  Based on our professional network, participants were selected purposely to yield data on a range of expert understandings, not to be representative of their respective countries or professions.  Participants discussed their perceptions of stigma and its impact on children with disabilities and their peers.  All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed in original languages.  The first step of the analysis was inductive, emic coding (Schwandt, 2007) to understand educators’ perspectives, contextualized by our cultural insider knowledge.  The next step was cross-cultural analysis guided by the concept, “universalism without uniformity.”  We identified issues commonly addressed by educators from four cultures, and then described variations in these common issues across cultures.  Peer debriefing, member checks and negative case analyses were used to expand and revise initial interpretations.

Results:

Educators from four cultures commonly described that children with disabilities experience strong negative reactions.  Educators’ understandings of children’s experiences, however, varied in focus across cultures, including a lack of sense of belonging [Japan], exposure to too much shame [Taiwan], a loss of motivation [Korea], and low self-esteem [U.S.].  Educators also described a common challenge faced by typically-developing children in meeting cultural expectations in their behaviors toward peers with disabilities, but their understandings of this challenge varied in focus from showing empathy [Japan] to including all peer group members [Korea], developing benevolence [Taiwan], and accepting individual differences [U.S.]. We will discuss variation in these common issues within specific sociocultural-historical contexts. 

Conclusions/Implications:

Cross-cultural analyses allow us to enhance our understandings of complex social issues through the exchange of ideas with experienced professionals across cultures and the identification of taken for granted beliefs and practices.  Our findings can provide U.S. social workers with valuable perspectives for working with children, including those from East Asian communities, not only at public schools, but also in various settings, including child welfare and mental health.