4.2d Frames and Perception
Perception is not merely automatic physical responses related to sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. How people interpret physical responses is also social. For instance, people in the United States drink ice-cold drinks, while those in most other parts of the world do not add ice to water, soft drinks, or coffee. U.S. citizens traveling abroad may be surprised to find little or no ice in their moderately cool beverage. For people in the United States, an ice-cold beverage tastes good. In contrast, people outside the United States learned to enjoy warmer beverages.
Sociologists study how physical perception varies among social groups and how perception provides a lens through which to view the world. Many factors shape a person’s perception, such as education, age, religion, and gender. Education, for instance, trains students in how to focus and what to focus on.
Healthcare students learn how to make meaning out of radiological images, interpret body language, and listen to better understand a patient’s situation to guide interpreting symptoms. Thus, this training can be understood as a frame through which perception is filtered. This leads to shared understanding among members of a social group who use the same frames. A patient recognizes their symptoms as troubling. A doctor, however, understands how a pattern of symptoms matches a diagnosis.
Framing Disability
Disability can be understood using a medical frame, a social frame, or both. A medical frame (or “medical model”) of disability emphasizes the biological features of a disability. A social frame (or “social model”) of disability draws attention to how difference is socially constructed. Carey (2023, p. 6) points out that disability is “constructed via the social processes by which some bodies/minds are identified, categorized and treated as ‘disabled.’ ” A social frame does not negate the role of biology in contributing to a disabling condition. It instead draws attention to the role social forces play in how disabling a condition may be for an individual.
For instance, cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that affects movement, balance, and posture (Centers for Disease Control, 2024). It results from damage to the brain or abnormal brain development, usually of unknown origin and occurring before or during birth. A medical frame emphasizes that cerebral palsy is a biological condition. A social frame, however, is needed to understand how disabling cerebral palsy is for a person with the condition. People with cerebral palsy have limited mobility, and many use wheelchairs. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires (among other things) that people who use wheelchairs have the same opportunities to take part in social life as those without disabilities. In practice, this means that public buildings have ramps and elevators.
Applying a social frame to disability enables one to understand how society contributes to how disabling a biological condition is. Suppose a society builds the environment to accommodate people using mobility aids like a walker or a wheelchair. In that case, people with disabilities related to physical mobility can more fully take part in their communities (see Photo 4.5). Without these accommodations, they would be more socially isolated. Therefore, how social groups accommodate disabilities influences the scope of how included people with disabilities are in society.
Photo 4.5
A Paved Pathway Can Help People with Reduced Mobility and Parents of Children Using Strollers to More Easily Access the Beach
