This paper explores how what I call 'administrative categories' have been adopted by the Japanese government and experts in autism support and what roles these categories have played in local settings. Since support practices for children and adults with autism began in the 1950s in Japan, the Japanese government and people engaging in autism support have used Japanese-specific administrative categories, instead of relying on a medical concept of autism, such as 'severe moving disabilities' (SMD), 'emotional disturbance', and 'extremely disruptive behavioural disorders' (EDBD). To understand the emergence of these three autism-related administrative categories in Japan, historical materials published from the 1950s to the 1990s by Japanese authors (doctors, psychologists, teachers, educationalists, welfare workers, government officials, and parents) and interview data with 19 leading experts of autism in Japan were collected and analysed thematically. The analysis revealed that the governmental ministries aimed to focus on establishing administrative support by avoiding engaging in aetiological debates among doctors, and to describe the political agenda more vividly. Administrative categories filled the gap between local interests and international medical concepts, enabling the concept of autism to be rooted in Japan's administrative systems. Three roles of administrative categories were identified: i) separation from medicine, ii) describing local problems, and iii) claimsmaking to wider actors and the public. I concluded that looking purely at medical and specifically diagnostic concepts limits our understanding of the formation of practices regarding disabilities, and thus more focus should be placed on categorisation practices outside of medicine. In addition, to the literature on the globalisation of Euro-American psychiatric concepts, this study contributes to our knowledge of a form of locality that has not been central in the exploration of the influence of globalisation on local settings and the relationships between the local and the global.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117223 | DOI Listing |
J Affect Disord
January 2025
School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) experienced several changes in their work (e.g., longer hours, new policies) that affected their mental health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrphanet J Rare Dis
January 2025
Travere Therapeutics, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.
Background: Classical homocystinuria (HCU) is a rare genetic metabolic disorder resulting in elevated homocysteine and methionine levels. The clinical characteristics and associated complications of HCU are well documented. However, there is limited published research on the clinical burden of patients with HCU, especially stratified by total homocysteine (tHcy) levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Department for Educational Development, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Background & Objectives: The context, mechanism, and outcome (CMO) framework is meant to identify specific contextual factors (C) related to organizational and program structure that trigger certain mechanisms (M) involving the unique characteristics of a program, leading to specific outcomes (O). The purpose of this study was to explore the contextual underpinnings, operational processes, and resultant effects of the faculty mentorship program at AKU-SONAM. This exploration involved the context in terms of organizational culture, mechanisms examining processes such as communication between mentors and mentees, quality of relationships, the challenges encountered, and the program's adaptability to cope up while, outcomes encompassed improvements in interpersonal relationships, career advancement, and skill development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisabil Rehabil Assist Technol
January 2025
Zimbabwe Open University Bulawayo, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
Availability of assistive technologies (ATs) to children with disabilities is a critical human right enshrined in United Nations (UN) treaties and frameworks such as the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the United Nations Conventions on Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ATs optimize functionality, independence, and enhance educational experiences of children with disabilities. The study explored availability of ATs to children with disabilities in Bulawayo Central District (BCD) in Zimbabwe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
January 2025
Department of Sociology and Criminology, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN 46208.
Using administrative and survey data, we show that there has been a sea change in the contours of American imprisonment. At the end of the twentieth century, inequality in the prison admission rates of Black and White Americans was comparable to inequality in the prison admission rates of people with and without a college education. However, educational inequality is now much greater than racial inequality in prison admissions for all major crime types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!