Swenson S
Doxa, Inc, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
J Intellect Disabil Res. 2008 Jul;52(7):626-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2008.01076.x. Epub 2008 May 14.
The turn to neoliberalism in welfare policy suggests that human services need to be based on a market approach. The problem with this suggestion is that it presupposes marketing information such that service providers can market their services for identified client needs. In the field of intellectual disability (ID) services this type of information is not available.
The method is a reflective analysis of the key presupposition of a market-orientated approach to disability services, namely that service providers know who needs what. Using insights from marketing theory the paper engages in a reflective thought experiment to lay out the intricacies of this presupposition.
The analysis results in an argument regarding the validation of a market-based approach to disability services. First, this approach has its limits in view of the question of whether the specific and atypical needs of people with ID, as well as their financial position as potential consumers constitute a market. Second, the approach has limited validity both in view of the ability of people with ID to act as consumers, and of the restrictions imposed upon them by the eligibility criteria for welfare and support programmes.
A market-based approach to disability services and supports can be helpful to spur innovation and further political and philosophical inquiry in human services, but the neoliberal optimism about the market as the only successful mechanism for service distribution is misplaced.
福利政策向新自由主义的转变表明，人类服务需要以市场方式为基础。这一建议的问题在于，它预先假定了营销信息，以便服务提供者能够针对已确定的客户需求来推销其服务。在智力残疾（ID）服务领域，这类信息并不存在。
该方法是对以市场为导向的残疾服务方法的关键前提进行反思性分析，即服务提供者知道谁需要什么。本文运用营销理论的见解，进行了一次反思性思想实验，以阐述这一前提的复杂性。
分析得出了一个关于以市场为基础的残疾服务方法的有效性的论点。首先，鉴于智力残疾者的特殊和非典型需求以及他们作为潜在消费者的经济状况是否构成一个市场这一问题，这种方法存在局限性。其次，鉴于智力残疾者作为消费者的行为能力以及福利和支持计划的资格标准对他们施加的限制，这种方法的有效性有限。
以市场为基础的残疾服务和支持方法有助于激发人类服务领域的创新以及进一步的政治和哲学探究，但新自由主义对市场作为服务分配唯一成功机制的乐观态度是错误的。
