Bunning Karen, Gona Joseph K, Newton Charles R, Hartley Sally
School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom.
Centre for Geographic Medicine Research (Coast), Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya.
PLoS One. 2017 Aug 3;12(8):e0182214. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182214. eCollection 2017.
Cultural narratives on disability have received much attention over the past few decades. In contexts of poverty, limited information and everyday challenges associated with having, or caring for someone with a disability, different understandings have emerged. A project was set up to promote disability awareness in neighborhood communities in a rural part of Kenya, using a process of reflection and education. This paper reports on the first aspect-reflection. The aim was to investigate local understanding of disability as a co-constructed concept. The research questions were: 1. What cultural beliefs shape local understanding of disability? 2. What challenges are perceived to be associated with disability? A phenomenological approach was adopted. Focus group discussions were conducted with twenty-one community groups involving 263 participants and audio-recorded. The data were transcribed and thematic analysis was carried out. Visual maps were created to illustrate any interconnections, before establishing the final conclusions. Local beliefs attributed disability to: human transgression of social conventions, particularly concerning inappropriate family relations, which invoked a curse; supernatural forces affecting the child; the will of God; unexplained events; and biomedical factors. Challenges associated with disability related to the burden of caregiving and perceived barriers to inclusion, with stress as a shared bi-product. Local understanding of disability in this rural part of Kenya demonstrated overlapping explanations and plurality of beliefs. Two possible interpretations are offered. Firstly, oscillation between explanatory lines demonstrated instability, affecting broader acceptance of disability. Secondly, and more positively, in the face of challenges, the desire to make sense of the existing situation, reflected a healthy pluralism.
在过去几十年里，关于残疾的文化叙事受到了广泛关注。在贫困环境中，由于信息有限以及与残疾人士自身或照顾他们相关的日常挑战，出现了不同的理解。肯尼亚农村地区的一个项目通过反思和教育过程，在邻里社区中开展了提高残疾意识的活动。本文报告了第一个方面——反思。其目的是调查当地对残疾这一共同构建概念的理解。研究问题如下：1. 哪些文化信仰塑造了当地对残疾的理解？2. 人们认为与残疾相关的挑战有哪些？采用了现象学方法。与21个社区团体进行了焦点小组讨论，共有263名参与者，并进行了录音。对数据进行了转录和主题分析。在得出最终结论之前，绘制了视觉地图以说明任何相互联系。当地的信仰将残疾归因于：违反社会习俗，特别是涉及不适当的家庭关系，从而招致诅咒；超自然力量影响孩子；上帝的意志；无法解释的事件；以及生物医学因素。与残疾相关的挑战涉及照顾负担和感知到的融入障碍，压力是共同的副产品。肯尼亚这个农村地区对残疾的当地理解表现出解释的重叠和信仰的多元性。本文提供了两种可能的解释。首先，不同解释之间的摇摆表明不稳定，影响了对残疾更广泛的接受。其次，更积极的是，面对挑战，想要理解现状的愿望反映了一种健康的多元主义。
