For decades, society viewed disability through a lens of sympathy and obligation. People with disabilities were often seen as objects of charity, passive recipients of goodwill who needed care rather than rights. This perspective has profoundly shaped laws, policies, and social attitudes. However, a significant transformation has been underway, one that recognizes disability not as a personal tragedy but as a natural part of human diversity deserving of equal rights and opportunities. Understanding the different approaches to disability helps us appreciate this shift from charity to human rights.
Table of Contents
The charity model: pity and dependence
The charity model represents one of the oldest approaches to disability. Under this framework, people with disabilities are depicted as victims deserving of pity. This model relies on benevolent giving, where financial support and care are provided out of compassion rather than a recognition of fundamental rights.
In India, this model has been particularly evident in traditional family structures and community practices. Families would care for disabled relatives, often keeping them hidden from public view due to associated stigma. The reliance on voluntary organizations to deliver services moved disability away from a rights approach, leading to disempowerment and depoliticization of disabled people.
The charity model created several problematic dynamics. It positioned people with disabilities as perpetually dependent, with decisions being made by family members, medical professionals, and charitable organizations on their behalf. Segregated institutions like special schools and care homes kept people with disabilities separate from mainstream society. While often well-intentioned, this approach fundamentally undermined the agency and dignity of individuals with disabilities.
The bio-centric or medical model: disability as defect
The medical model views disability as a problem residing within the individual, directly caused by disease, trauma, or health condition. This approach focuses on disability purely in terms of the impairment it gives the person. Management under this model aims at a cure or the individual’s adjustment and behavioral change that would lead to something close to a cure.
In the medical model, people with disabilities were looked upon as dysfunctioning and pathologized, with the belief that disabled people should be fixed to suit society. The focus remained on medical intervention and rehabilitation rather than addressing environmental or social barriers.
This model promoted the view of a disabled person as dependent and needing to be cured or cared for. It justified systematic exclusion from society by suggesting that the individual must adapt to the way society is constructed rather than society adapting to accommodate diverse needs. Medical professionals were seen as the primary experts, often sidelining the voices and choices of disabled individuals themselves.
The functional or social model: barriers in society
The social model marked a revolutionary shift in understanding disability. This model sees disability not as an attribute of an individual but as a complex collection of conditions created by the social environment. In this framework, disability results from society’s failure to accommodate people with impairments through appropriate modifications.
According to the social model, individuals have impairments, but they become disabled when they encounter barriers. A wheelchair user, for instance, is handicapped by stairs and inaccessible buildings, not by their inability to walk. The problem lies not entirely with the impairment but with the physical and social construction of the environment.
This approach promoted equality and inclusion through statements like “nothing about us without us” and “rights not charity”. It challenged practices that segregated disabled people in educational and employment settings and questioned the privileging of professional expertise over the life choices of disabled individuals. The management of disability, therefore, requires social action and becomes the collective responsibility of society to make necessary environmental modifications.
The human rights model: equality and dignity
The human rights model represents the most recent and comprehensive approach to disability. This model builds upon the social model while explicitly grounding disability issues within a human rights framework. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006, takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as objects of charity to subjects with rights.
The human rights model emphasizes that people with disabilities are capable of claiming rights, making decisions about their lives based on free and informed consent, and being active members of society. It represents a paradigm shift from viewing disability as a social welfare concern to recognizing it as a human rights issue.
This model incorporates several core principles: respect for inherent dignity and individual autonomy, non-discrimination, full participation and inclusion in society, respect for difference and acceptance of disability as part of human diversity, equality of opportunity, and accessibility. The approach recognizes that disability results from the interaction between impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder full participation in society.
India’s adoption of the human rights model
India signed the UNCRPD in 2007 and subsequently enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which replaced the earlier 1995 legislation. The 2016 Act represents a significant shift toward a rights-based framework in Indian law.
The Act increased the types of recognized disabilities from seven to twenty-one, including mental illness, autism, and specific learning disabilities for the first time. It mandates accessibility in public buildings and transportation, increases reservation in government jobs from three to four percent, and ensures inclusive education for children with disabilities.
The Act’s definition of disability reflects this evolution, describing a person with disability as someone with long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders full and effective participation in society. This definition acknowledges the interaction between individual impairments and environmental barriers, representing the human rights approach.
Why the shift matters
The transition from charity to human rights models has profound practical implications. Under the charity and medical models, disabled people were passive recipients of services decided by others. The human rights model positions them as active agents entitled to make their own choices, participate in decision-making processes, and claim their rights.
This shift affects everything from educational inclusion and employment opportunities to political participation and access to justice. Initiatives like the Accessible India Campaign demonstrate how rights-based approaches create pathways to opportunity and active societal involvement for every individual.
For legal practitioners and students, understanding these models is essential for constitutional interpretation and effective advocacy. Rights-based arguments focusing on systemic barriers rather than individual limitations are often more effective in securing meaningful remedies. The evolution also challenges us to examine our own assumptions and the language we use when discussing disability.
Moving forward
Despite legislative progress, implementation remains a challenge. The charity and medical models are still deeply embedded in Indian society, influencing everything from family attitudes to institutional practices. True transformation requires not just legal frameworks but widespread changes in social attitudes, physical infrastructure, and institutional practices.
The journey from charity to human rights is ongoing. It requires recognizing that people with disabilities are not seeking special treatment but equal treatment, not asking for pity but demanding dignity, and not waiting for charity but claiming their rights as equal citizens.
What do you think? How can we accelerate the shift from charity-based thinking to rights-based approaches in our communities and institutions? What role do legal professionals play in ensuring that the human rights model is not just enshrined in law but implemented in practice?
References
- https://www.disabled-world.com/definitions/disability-models.php
- https://journals.lww.com/jome/fulltext/2021/02010/disabled_in_india__a_charity_model_.13.aspx
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642987.2020.1783533
- https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-crpd
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5419007/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_Persons_with_Disabilities_Act,_2016
- https://www.pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=155592
- https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2197426®=3&lang=1
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