Disability and oppression: some implications for nurses and nursing

Since the 1970s organizations of disabled people have defined disability as a form of oppression. However, despite nurses (along with other professionals) increasingly being viewed as part of this experience of oppression, British nursing literature has to date largely failed to conceptualize disability in these terms. In this paper the five faces of oppression identified by Young are modified to include discrimination and developed to provide a framework in which evidence of the oppression experienced by disabled people may be analysed. It is argued that if nurses and the nursing profession are to challenge and reduce oppression then this should be via a process of awareness of the nature of disability, reflection on practice and development in partnership. Accordingly, an agenda is identified which has implications for nursing practice, education and research. It is stressed that if nursing is not to be viewed as irrelevant to the needs of disabled people or as part of the process by which they are oppressed then it is vital that this agenda is heeded.