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ABSTRACT
THE WHEEL CHAIR BOUND INDIVIDUAL IN THE WORK MARKET – THE
PERCEPTION OF WORKERS WHO ARE NOT MOTOR DISABLED:
Nursing subsidy for multiprofessional team
Rachel Ferreira Savary Figueiró
Orientadora: Regina Célia Gollner Zeitoune
Abstract da Tese de Doutorado submetida ao Programa de Pós-graduação em
Enfermagem, Escola de Enfermagem Anna Nery da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro -
UFRJ, como parte dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do título de Doutor em Enfermagem.
Study on the worker’s perception who does not suffer from motor disability towards the
wheel chair bound individual in the work context. Objectives: to describe the perception such
workers have about the wheel chair bound individual at work; to analyse, in the subjects’s
perception, attitudes that might represent a stigmatising posture towards the wheel chair
bound individual in the work context; to discuss the implications of such perception vis-a-vis
the inclusion of the wheel chair bound individual in the occupational context, in the light of
the Worker’s Health. The theoretical support has based itself, among others, on Erving
Goffman (1988,2005) and Carolyn Vash (1988), Qualitative approach, guided by the dialetic
principles. The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews at the subjects’s place
of work. The results have revealed that the subjects perceive the disability as a feature of the
disabled individual and not as a condition socially constructed, which transforms difficulty in
lack of ability; the family, as well as the rehabilitation treatment have been shown as tools so
that the wheel chair bound individual could acquire the necessary skills in order to join and
remain in the work market; that the stigmatising notion of the disabled individual constitutes,
indeed, a reality which is part of the occupational environment, more expressive among
younger age groups, regardless their school background; it bears no coherence with the real
limitations of the wheel chair bound individual. Such behaviour will have a negative
repercussion upon the wheel chair bound worker’s health, who does not feel valued by the
group he/she works with. Feeling his/her effort neglected and feeling ostracized due to
his/her physical disability, his/her self-esteem is shattered, which, sooner or later, provokes
the need of taking leaves or triggers accidents at work.
Key-words: Worker; Wheel chair bound individual, Disability; Stigma.
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