BEDEN, BİREY VE TOPLUM KESİŞİMİNDE ENGELLİ BİREYLERİN ERİŞEBİLİRLİK DENEYİMLERİ: GAZİANTEP ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the participation in social life of physically disabled individuals, their access to social resources, and their perceptions of disability. For this purpose, based on the social theory of disability, the study deals with disability with a holistic perspective that includes not only body and health but also culture, society, economy, technology, and social policy dimensions. In this context, from an interactionist framework, the study tries to understand how the phenomenon of disability is socially constructed and experienced individually. The data of this study, which was carried out with the basic qualitative research method in the city center of Gaziantep, were collected through in-depth interviews with 32 participants. The results revealed that accessibility appropriate for the unique bodily experiences of individuals with disabilities is the determinant factor for social participation and that the perceptions of disability and accessibility are in mutual interaction.