Pastoral Relationship with People with Intellectual ... - Theses

28through clear, well-conceived narrative articulation that institutional silence canbe overcome, 24 and a liberating pastoral model described.1.4.2 Narrative of OthernessWithin liberal, Western societies, people with intellectual disability haveoften been regarded as being less than fully human. The loss or perceived loss ofintellectual functions such as thinking, remembering, future planning andreasoning have been and are often viewed as leading to a loss of humanidentity. 25 In the contemporary setting, some ethicists and moral philosophersargue that, without the rational capacity for self-awareness, that is, the ability todifferentiate between one’s self and the other person, full human identity is lost. 26It is when we consider this issue of identity and self-awareness that we areconfronted with the notion of difference, that is, the differentiation of ourselvesfrom others. As Clapton indicates, the difficulty here arises when certain humancharacteristics such as the capacity for reason are normalised and that which isdeemed normal is regarded as dominant. Difference from this norm can theneasily become regarded as inferior. Such negative regard leads the one so viewedto assume the status of ‘the other.’ This other then becomes an object of fear, theoutsider whose own frailties threaten to reveal the vulnerabilities of the statusquo. Thus, for the status quo, the close proximity of this object is untenable, andinevitably leads to social and moral alienation and exclusion. 27This conceptualisation of exclusion can thus take on the image of a bodypurging itself of that which is deemed unclean according to a prescribed code or24 Owen, Frances, Dorothy Griffiths, Donato Tarulli and Jacqueline Murphy. "Historical andTheoretical Foundations of the Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: Setting theStage." In Challenges to the Human Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities, edited byFrances Owen and Dorothy Griffiths, 23-42. (London and Philadelphia: Jessica KingsleyPublishers, 2009), 3625 Swinton, John. "Remembering the Person: Theological Reflections on God, Personhoodand Dementia." In Ageing, Disability and Spirituality: Addressing the Challenge of Disabilityin Later Life, edited by Elizabeth MacKinlay, 22-35. (London & Philadelphia: JessicaKingsley Publishers, 2008), 22.26 See, for example,Kuhse, Helga, and Peter Singer. Should the Baby Live? The Problem of Handicapped Infants.(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987).Singer, Peter. "Speciesism and Moral Status." In Cognitive Disability and Its Challenge toMoral Philosophy, edited by Eva Kittay and Licia Carlson, 331-44. (Chichester: WileyBlackwell, 2010), 338-40.Tooley, Michael. "Abortion and Infanticide." In Applied Ethics, edited by Peter Singer, 57-85.(New York: Oxford University Press, 1988).27 Clapton, Jane. "Disability and Moral Constructions." (Brisbane: Griffith University, 2005),3-10.