Socio-Pedagogical Determinants of Social Acceptance of People with Disabilities

The social acceptance of people with disabilities is multidimensional and is often analyzed concerning various factors. Both external (demographic) factors, e.g. age, gender, place of residence, type of education or occupation, and internal factors (e.g. level of intelligence, self-esteem, sense of coherence) can be taken into consideration. The study presents the results of an analysis of the relationship between socio-demographic factors, characteristics of the family environment, social relations, contact with people who have disabilities, and the level of social acceptance of people with disabilities. The study uses the Disability Acceptance Scale, which consists of 27 statements and is a tool used to measure the level of acceptance of people with disabilities in three dimensions: (1) the acceptance of support given to people with disabilities; (2) the acceptance of inclusion of people with disabilities in the institutions of social life; (3) the acceptance of competences of people with disabilities to function in social roles. The study involved 313 people living in south-eastern Poland, including 156 women (49.84%) and 157 men (50.16%).The results of the research showed that regarding socio-demographic factors there are no statistically significant differences between the level of acceptance of people with disabilities depending on the gender of the respondent;, while differences are observed between different age groups and people living in different types of living environment. In the context of the family environment, the factors affecting the level of acceptance were the mother’s education and the father’s employment. Concerning social relations with people with disabilities, having a family member with a disability and having contact with a student with a disability at school were found to be significant factors affecting social acceptance.