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Social capital through workplace connections: opportunities for workers with intellectual disabilities
- Authors:
- HALL Allison Cohen, KRAMER John
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work in Disability and Rehabilitation, 8(3-4), July 2009, pp.146-170.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Disability research now emphasises community participation, inclusion, and integration, with recent thinking shifting away from formal support systems to community support. This qualitative study examined the experiences of individuals with intellectual disabilities in sheltered workshops and compared them to those in community employment. In particular, the study investigated how employment affects opportunities for the creation of social capital, with social capital referring to relationships between individuals and benefits and resources that are mutually produced from those relationships. Primary respondents were twenty nine individuals with intellectual disability, and secondary respondents were twenty three family members and twenty nine employment services staff. Findings revealed that a form of social capital was created through workplace connections. Community employment did not increase social capital per se, but it did produce social opportunities not available in the workshop. The authors note that the role of family members emerged as critical in the support of community employment and its potential for social capital development.