Empowering the Phoenix: Relevance of the Social Model of Disability for Botswana

This exploratory, qualitative study seeks to test the veracity of the social model of disability to capture and explain disability issues in a non-Western culture. The social model was used to explore and explain the lived experiences of seventeen people with physical or visual impairment living in various communities in Botswana. The study also explores whether the assumptions and claims of the social model capture the experiences of these people, and whether the social model of disability applies to the policy, program and practice contexts of Botswana. The study targeted respondents in four sites - a city, two large rural villages and a remote village. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to solicit responses in a face-to-face (conversational style) interaction. The data were analyzed qualitatively, using NVivo (computer program) to thematise and organise the data for analysis. The study found that attitudes pervade society's behaviours and actions. These behaviours and actions (especially discrimination) take place in different settings such as the education system, the employment sector, public transportation, and within the context of the built environment...