Research PaperTherapy or human right? The meaning of recreation for children and youth with disabilities in the “Krembo Wings” youth movement
Section snippets
Theoretical framework
Our theoretical framework centers on the critical perspective of a disability study committed to disability rights. The social model (or “minority group” model)18 of disability is widely held among scholars. It perceives disability as a socio-cultural construct, a product of the oppressive socio-cultural structure and, therefore, argues for changing disabling mechanisms, i.e., discriminatory social structures19 and the attainment of civil rights.18 The social model contrasts with the biomedical
Methods
Qualitative research methods were employed in order to test how KW defines meanings for recreation for children and youth with disabilities. In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the studied phenomenon, and obtain more and better evidence that will allow us to interpret it, we sampled data from various sources.30, 31
Biomedical model of disability
The vast majority of the data showed that KW's understanding of recreation for children and youth with disabilities is based on an individual, biomedical or charity model of disability.
Biomedical imagery was evident in the name of the YM; Krembo (literal translation: “cream on the inside” or “cream within”) is a popular Israeli sweet, a chocolate-covered marshmallow-like cream on a cookie. A KW pamphlet from January 2013 states that “Krembo is an Israeli sweet that is hand-wrapped because of
Discussion
In this study we set out to explore the ways in which KW assigns meanings to recreation for children and youth with disabilities. Our findings show that it adopts a rather mixed, at times contradictory, understanding of this subject.
Most of the YM's content and structure that we examined reflects biomedical hegemony, and assumes the superiority of “able-bodied” persons. KW perceives youth and children with disabilities as inherently different from non-disabled youth. While the latter are seen
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors whose names are listed above certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest, or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.