Date of Award

12-2025

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Ann Miles, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

David Hartmann, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Jesse Smith, Ph.D.

Keywords

Content analysis, disability theory, historical sociology, sociology of disability

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

In the 20th century, three theoretical perspectives concurrently dominated sociological discussions of disability. Functionalism and Talcott Parsons argued for a pathologized framework in the form of a “sick role” occupied by disabled people. Interactionism and Erving Goffman emphasized the stigmas faced by individual disabled people, and the ripple-effects of those stigmas. Finally, disabled activists, inspired by social constructionism, championed the social model of disability. This model purported that disability is a social condition, resulting from systemic barriers imposed upon people who do not fit the mental or physiological norm. This project, through a content analysis of 30 historical journal articles, seeks to examine the prevalence of these ideas and the development of sociological thinking regarding disability. The analysis found that the development of sociological thinking around disability was a complex, nonlinear process involving conversation and ideological exchange between multiple theoretical frameworks. Also found was a dramatic increase in sociological interest around disability between 1950 and 2000, and a consistent tendency among authors to frame disability in opposition to an abled or “normal” state.

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