A comparison of the attitudes of students and non-students toward the disabled in Ghana.

A comparison of attitudes toward the disabled in Ghana was made between 146 college students (majoring in general education, special education administration and medicine) and 128 non-students. The study focuses on an analysis of responses to a select number of attitude statements which revealed the following: Students responded more favorably than non-students to statements emphasizing the value of educating the disabled. Students were less likely to blame the disabled or his/her family for the presence of a disability. On the other hand, both students and non-students were least favorable to social interaction with the disabled. A major finding of the study was that all scores fell within or above the moderately positive range. However, analysis of data revealed an inconsistency between the cognitive and affective attitude components. These findings suggest the influence of traditional beliefs on attitudes toward the disabled.