Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka nyantagna studenters sociala representationer om socialpedagogiskt arbete och personer med funktionsnedsättning. Studenterna går en socialpedagogisk utbildning med inriktning mot funktionsnedsättning. Det teoretiska ramverk som vägleder studien är teorin om sociala representationer, som handlar om vår vardagskunskap om företeelser och händelser i vår omvärld. Representationerna spelar en viktig roll för hur vi handlar och kommunicerar i olika situationer. I studien användes metoden fria associationer, vilken ger möjlighet att få tillgång till representationernas semantiska innehåll och struktur. Vid datainsamlingen presenterades en enkät med olika stimulusord för respondenterna. Personerna ombads att ange upp till fem ord eller uttryck som de spontant kom att tänka på då de såg stimulusordet, samt gradera det på en femgradig värdeskala. Resultat från studien visar att studenternas representationer främst knyts till ett individperspektiv och inte till ett strukturellt samhällsperspektiv, samt att många kopplar sin framtida yrkesroll till ett medicinskt perspektiv med vård och omsorg i fokus, snarare än till de förmågor personer med funktionsnedsättning har med fokus på allas rätt till delaktighet och mänskliga rättigheter. Ur utbildningsanordnarens perspektiv visar studiens resultat vikten av att såväl uppmärksamma som att diskutera och utmana nyantagna studenters uppfattningar

People with disabilities are more often excluded from working life than others; one way of promoting inclusion in the labor market is self-employment. The aim of this article is to add to the knowledge about the establishment motives for starting one’s own business among people with disabilities and reduced working capacity in Sweden. Data were collected from 16 people with disabilities across Sweden. Ten semi-structured interviews with self-employed people with disabilities and one group interview with six blind and visually impaired people were conducted. Themes of establishment motives were identified through thematic analysis. Five themes were identified: flexibility and self-determination; economic motives; negative work experience; contributing something; and being an entrepreneur. Results are related to the concepts of entrepreneurial ecosystem, necessity and opportunity, and identity positions as an entrepreneur. The motives for self-employment have not previously been studied to any great extent in the Swedish context. This article is a contribution to this internationally emerging field of research. For professionals and policymakers, the study highlights the need not only to focus on the individual perspective but also to support and to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem simultaneously.

Les personnes en situation de handicap sont plus souvent exclues de la vie professionnelle que les autres. L’un des moyens de promouvoir l’inclusion sur le marché du travail est le travail indépendant. L’objectif de cet article est de compléter les connaissances sur les motifs de création d’entreprise chez les personnes en situation de handicap et à capacité de travail réduite en Suède. Des données ont été recueillies auprès de seize personnes en situation de handicap à travers la Suède. Dix entretiens semi-directifs avec des personnes handicapées travaillant à leur compte et un entretien de groupe avec six personnes aveugles et malvoyantes ont été réalisés. Différentes sources de motivations à créer sa propre entreprise ont été identifiés par une analyse thématique. Cinq thèmes ont été identifiés: flexibilité et autodétermination; motifs économiques; expérience de travail négative; apporter quelque chose; et être entrepreneur. Les résultats sont liés aux concepts d’écosystème entrepreneurial, de nécessité et de possibilité, et de position identitaire en tant qu’entrepreneur. Les motivations pour le travail indépendant n’ont pas encore été étudiés de manière approfondie dans le contexte suédois. Cet article est une contribution à ce domaine de recherche émergeant au niveau international. Pour les professionnels et les décideurs politiques, l’étude souligne la nécessité de ne pas se concentrer uniquement sur la perspective individuelle mais de soutenir et de développer simultanément l’écosystème entrepreneurial.

As people with disabilities often face difficulties entering the labour market, entrepreneurship and self-employment are often regarded as an opportunity to gain employment and earn a living. This article presents a scoping review that aims to investigate what establishment motives previous studies have identified for self-employment and entrepreneurship among people with disabilities. Four themes emerged: economic motives; flexibility and self-determination; avoiding discrimination; and personal development and being able to contribute something. In the article we discuss the results and relate them to the general discourse on entrepreneurship, which often includes the concept of autonomy. We argue that the findings suggest implications for how to develop support and strategies for this group, to help them avoid ending up in an even more vulnerable position. In this work, the individual’s own motives for establishment are of great value.

In many countries, self-employment has become a common strategy for achieving inclusion in the labour market. Studies show that the occurrence of self-employment depends not only on individual motives, but also on existing policies and support. In Sweden, labour market measures to include people with disabilities are primarily organized to achieve inclusion through traditional forms of employment, though one tool offered by the Swedish Public Employment Service is Support to Start a Business. One part of this support is exclusive to people with disabilities. Although the Swedish Public Employment Service is responsible for this specific support, they collaborate with both external state-funded and non-profit actors who assess applicants’ business ideas.

Drawing on the methodological approach of institutional ethnography, this article explores how the in-house frontline workers and external actors describe their professional roles, how they make decisions and what the chain of action looks like at multiple sites. Nine representatives from the various organizations that people can meet with when trying to start and run their own business have taken part in semi-structured interviews.

The analysis identifies different institutional practices that overlap when people with disabilities apply for support to start their own business: one focusing on the efficient allocation of resources, and the other on the individual’s social and financial welfare by protecting the individuals these organizations meet with from risks connected to economy and health. These two practices reflect a long-standing conflict between control and support in objectives within both labour market policy and social work. This support of self-employment for people with disabilities is organized by actors who traditionally have not been studied in research on social work.

Entrepreneurs with disabilities in Sweden – a “forgotten” group at the intersection between the work principle and disability policy

Disability policy in Sweden is formulated in terms of individual rights and has shifted from a patient perspective to an increased emphasis on guarantees of participation, equal conditions, and active citizenship. At the same time, implementation of the rules connected to the work principle within Swedish social policy has diminished the possibilities for people with disabilities to qualify for sickness and disability benefits. The purpose of this article is to reach a deeper understanding of how the conditions of self-employed people with disabilities and reduced ability to work have been affected through such system changes. The study has been guided by one overall question: Has the work principle, in the way it has been interpreted and applied, enhanced the possibilities for entrepreneurship, or have the consequences been the opposite? The study takes its point of departure in potential conflicts of political objectives concerning the possibilities of people with disabilities and reduced ability to work to set up and engage in their own businesses. The analysis is based on public reports and written policies concerning sickness benefits and disability benefits as well as statistics on entrepreneurs with support from the Swedish Employment Service and disability benefits during two follow-up years, 2007 and 2017. One central conclusion is that the changed application of the work principle, especially in connection to the reforms of the disability benefits in Sweden in 2008, has had negative effects for people with disabilities and reduced ability to work and their possibilities to start up new businesses between our follow-up years, 2007 and 2017.

Den svenska funktionshinderspolitiken formuleras i termer av individuella rättigheter och har förskjutits bort från patientperspektiv till en ökad betoning på delaktighet, likvärdiga förutsättningar och aktivt medborgarskap. Samtidigt har tillämpningen av arbetslinjen inneburit att möjligheterna att kvalificera sig för ohälsorelaterade sociala ersättningar begränsats. I artikeln behandlas hur detta har påverkat villkoren för företagare med funktionsnedsättning. Syftet med artikeln är att belysa en potentiell välfärdspolitisk målkonflikt gällande möjligheterna för personer med funktionsnedsättning som medför nedsatt arbetsförmåga att starta och driva företag. Artikeln baseras dels på en analys av utredningar och styrdokument rörande sjukförsäkringen och sjukersättningen, dels på statistik om företagare med stöd från Arbetsförmedlingen och som beviljats sjukersättning under åren 2007 och 2017. En central slutsats är att tillämpningen av arbetslinjen, särskilt i anslutning till reformerna av sjukersättningen från 2008, har försämrat villkoren för företagare med funktionsnedsättning och minskat möjligheterna att etablera nya företag mellan uppföljningsåren 2007 och 2017.

Little is known about self-employment among people with disabilities in Sweden. The present article contributes knowledge about barriers and opportunities experienced by self-employed people with disabilities and discusses how these affect the labor market inclusion of people with disabilities.

The article draws on qualitative, in-depth interviews with 10 self-employed participants with disabilities and one group interview with six participants who were self-employed and had visual impairments.

The analysis shows that the participants see self-employment as an opportunity for a more flexible working life. However, the economic redistribution on which they often depend to run their business is conditioned in a way that does not take into consideration their everyday life. Consequently, despite political goals of inclusion and social justice, people with disabilities come to be excluded from yet another arena, that is, self-employment.

“Disability and Social Representations Theory” erbjuder teoretisk och metodologisk kunskap för att kunna studera allmänhetens uppfattningar om funktionsnedsättning. I boken undersöks hur människor kollektivt tänker och kommunicerar i detta sammanhang. Teorin om sociala representationer används som ett gemensamt teoretiskt ramverk.

Disability and Social Representations Theory provides theoretical and methodological knowledge to uncover the public perception of disabilities.

Over the last decade there has been a significant shift from body to environment, and the relation between the two, when understanding the phenomenon of disabilities. The current trend is to view disabilities as the outcome of this interaction; in short from a biopsychosocial perspective. This has called for research based on frameworks that incorporate both the body and the environment. There is a great corpus of knowledge of the functions of a body, and a growing corpus of environmental factors such as perceptions among specific groups of persons towards disabilities. However, there is a lack of knowledge of the perception of disabilities from a general population. This book offers an insight into how we can broaden our understanding of disability by using Social Representations Theory, with specific examples from studies on hearing loss. The authors highlight that attitudes and actions are outcomes of a more fundamental disposition (i.e., social representation) towards a phenomenon like disability.

This book is written assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of Social Representations Theory. It will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in the fields of disability studies, health and social care, and sociology.