Exploring the identity constitution and identity capital of youth with physical disabilities: A qualitative study in mainland China

Miao Yu and Siu-ming To

Children and Youth Services Review, 2019, vol. 96, issue C, 163-171

Abstract: Studies focused on persons with disabilities have attracted increasing attention from scholars in mainland China in recent decades. These studies have focused more on the social welfare system and the social exclusion issues of people with disabilities on the macro-structural level and relatively less on the individual experience level. This research is the first attempt to explore the experiences of youth with physical disabilities in mainland China, focusing especially on their identity constitution. The present study, which was conducted in Shenzhen, focused on the experiences of youth with physically disabled and adopted a qualitative inquiry to explore the construction of identity and the deployment of identity capital. The findings show that the youth with physical disabilities interviewed in this study had multiple disability identities. Specifically, the physically disabled and socially excluded identity of these young persons with disabilities and their positive identity achieved through the deployment of identity capital that emerged from the present study are not mutually exclusive; rather, the coexistence of these two aspects of identity unfolded in the narratives of the participants. Moreover, this study revealed some themes that influenced the respondents to gain identity capital. The discussion and recommendations are categorized into the research, policy, and service domains.

Keywords: Identity; Identity capital; Individual experience; Youth with physical disabilities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:96:y:2019:i:c:p:163-171

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.11.040

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