Sample Research Proposal on Americans with Disabilities Act Coverage of People with Mental Problems

It is being said that discrimination is the act of making a difference, as in favor of or against a person or thing. It is often used to refer to the act of treating individuals differently on the basis of gender, age, race, religion, or other characteristics. It is a form of behavior that shows prejudice, but not only the form. It is the failure to treat people in the same way because of a bias toward some of them because of some characteristic - such as race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability - which is irrelevant to their suitability for something (e.g., to occupy housing or to perform a job) (The Online Ethics Center For Engineering and Science). Most of the time, discrimination is associated with the act of making a disparity, as in favor of or against a person or thing. Individuals are being treated unequally due to the influenced of some strong social and environmental factors. It is a form of behavior that shows prejudice, but not only the form. It is the failure to treat people in the same way. In most cases, discrimination exists because there is no acceptance and respect. It has also been influenced by traditions and cultures.     Definitions and Concepts of Disability Disability is something that makes it difficult or impossible to carry out a major life function that most people can do easily. Moreover, it is a disadvantage or restriction on doing things that is the mistake of society and the way it is run.   The world takes no account of people, who have impairments, and leaves them out and stops them from doing things other people do. Disability is discrimination and social oppression extremely much similar to racism and sexism. On the other hand, the disabled people's movement in Britain uses the term disability not mean impairment but to refer to the disabling difficulties of prejudice, discrimination, and social exclusion. There the British Council of Disabled People has adopted the definition of the term disability as the restriction of activity caused by a society that takes little or no account of people who have impairments and thus excludes them from normal activity. And the council has always followed the Social Model of Disability because other models of disability, which oppress disabled people, are all human being models (Disability Information, 2003).   Deinstitutionalization also revealed to us the rank discrimination between mentally retarded people and chronic illness patients within public hospitals to private third part reimburses (Bachrach, 1978, 57-578). It was in June 22, 1999 that the U.S. Supreme Court addressed a debate about the right choices in taking care of disabled people. It was then that the court decided to allow proper way to care for mentally disabled people with the appropriate use of facilities provided that the inflicted individuals are in agreement. The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is an Integration Mandate which declares that the unnecessary segregation of individuals with disabilities in institutions may constitute discrimination based on disability (Braddock, 1998). ADA 1990 may require states to provide community-based services rather than institutional placements for individuals with disabilities and is applicable to all people with current or previous disability which limits their ability to work on their daily activities. This act also placed emphasis to the fact that they are not to feel discriminated considering their conditions and how their conditions are said to be crucial.      Disability and Mental Problems Basically, people with intellectual disability may be limited not only in their cognitive and adaptive behavior skills, but also by emotional and behavioral disorders that further limit their ability to learn new skills, adapt to changing environments and develop appropriate social interaction skills. According to Einfeld & Tonge, (1996), when these disorders are of a sufficient severity and intensity, they may constitute a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. Hence, Bongiorno, (1996) believes that when intellectual disability is complicated by mental illness, the common clinical term "dual diagnosis" is used to describe these individuals. Actually, the term "dual diagnosis" indicating a co-existence of intellectual disability and mental illness is relatively new and has only recently been acknowledged in the field (Parmenter, 2001).   According to Health and Welfare Canada (1988), mental health is broadly defined as the capacity of the individual to promote subjective well-being, to develop and use mental abilities, to achieve individual and collective goals consistent with justice and to attain and preserve conditions of fundamental equality. On the other hand, mental disorder refers to recognized, medically diagnosable illnesses that result in a significant impairment of the individual's cognitive, affective or relational abilities (Conn, 2002). Individuals with intellectual disability and mental illness present several challenges to both community and health services in terms of the difficult behaviors they present, the complexities of diagnoses and treatment, and the complex service needs they require (Dudley, Ahlgrim-Delzell & Calhoun, 1999).     Americans with Disabilities Act Coverage of People with Mental Problems             The American with Disability Act of 1990 was declared as the biggest attempt to counter discrimination among people with disabilities which was ratified for the purpose of providing comprehensive protection among the concerned citizens through national policies (Gluck Mezey, 2004). The ADA defined individuals with disabilities in three conditions: (1) actual disability--"a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more ... major life activities;" (2) past disability--"a record of such an impairment;" and (3) perceived disability--"being regarded as having such an impairment" (USC, 2000). The Act specifically covers persons with disability experiencing discrimination in employment, delivery of state and local government services, public accommodations, telecommunications, and miscellaneous provisions (Gluck Mezey, 2004).  Obviously, the ADA of 1990 covers the protection of individuals who are mentally impaired against social discrimination. The definition of the Act's scope clearly emphasized and mentioned the elimination of discrimination among people with mental problems.      However, in 1998 the National Organization on Disability (NOD) otherwise known as the Harris Surve6y of People with Disabilities indicated that Americans continue to fall behind other citizens in the aspects of employment, education, income, frequency of socializing, along with other tem more major indicators of life and that the gaps between the people with disabilities and that of the rest of the population are not improving as other aspects continue to worsen (Louis Harris and Associates, 1998, p. 5). The results of the survey illustrated that only 30% of the people with disabilities are employed despite the 75% of the disabled individuals who want to get a job.  Furthermore, 33% of adults with disabilities are in households with incomes of less than $15, 000 and continue to be among the most deprived members in the community (Louis Harris and Associates, 1998).   Moreover, studies have been conducted to examine critically the result, impact and influences of the institutionalization of ADA. The implementation of the Act at the local, state and federal levels have been the most studied aspect of ADA (Condrey & Brudney, 1998; Finn & Pfeiffer, 1995; National Council on Disability, 2001; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1994; West, 1994). Other researches have focused on the implementation of the Act in the employment setting (Blanck, 1995; Buys & Fried, 1994; Kregel & Tomiyasu, 1994; National Organization on Disability, 1995; President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, 1995). According to Sabatier and Mazmanian (1980) the perception regarding the impact of ADA should be highly considered in the effectively implementing the policies and that appropriate models of implementation have to be reviewed in order to address the interpreting and accessibility issues that are covered by the Act.   In this light, it could be inferred that despite the large coverage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to protect individuals with disabilities against discrimination and to provide them the equality and rights of all areas of life, the social, economic and political problem and issues continue to beset these people. as such it could be concluded that the extent of state and national provisions, laws and policies to take care of the its citizens, initiatives to counter the growing concern on discrimination among individuals with disabilities will be far from successful as improvements in their lives are still not yet realized. As such, there should be aggressive implementation and observance in achieving the goals and objectives of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.