Research project The white cane as a lived everyday reality
Distinctly user-oriented, and with ethnographic methods, the project "The white cane as a lived everyday reality. An ethnographic study of rehabilitation, social materiality and bodily norms" explores the visually impaireds’ own experiences and attitudes towards the white stick.
The overall objective is thus to contribute to the interdisciplinary fields of both medical humanities and the studies of social materiality. A complementary, but not less important, goal is that the project is intended to result in deepened insights into how social norms of functionality effect people with disabilities in general, and visually impaired in particular.
Project description
The project investigates the rehabilitation activities at the Stockholm Sight Centre. The intention is to extract a greater understanding of the social and cultural processes that, according to persons working at the Center, provoke many visually impaired people, despite the undisputed benefits of the means, to not accept it as a regularly companion in their everyday matters.
"The white cane as a lived everyday reality" is outlined as a two-folded study. One part is focused on the rehabilitation and supportive activities at the Centre, and the other part is set on the attitudes toward the white stick that are expressed by the clients themselves, as well as their actual use of the means. Thanks to the chosen structure of the study, the survey combines an institutional perspective with an in-depth perspective. The dual approach increases the scope of the interpretations and creates opportunities for synergy effects within the project.
Project members
Project managers
Maria Bäckman
Universitetslektor
