BSL:UPTAKE » Blog Archive » Citizenship and the Deaf Community (PART IV

Citizenship and the Deaf Community (PART IV – Implications of the Findings)

PART IV – Implications of the Findings

An analysis of the data findings was presented and a critical discourse analysis undertaken. Chapters 4 and 5 had shown the extent to which Deaf communities experienced social exclusion. The concept of citizenship was demonstrated to be a highly useful and relevant framework wherein Deaf citizens, through focus groups and a Research Consultation Group could share their experiences. In Chapter 6 the findings of research into the views of the elite stakeholders were presented. While it appeared from the data that these participants shared and understood the reality of disadvantage that Deaf people experienced in relation to hearing people, a critical discourse analysis highlighted that there were, nevertheless, fundamental power differences between the elite stakeholders and Deaf communities. This difference was explored by means of a focus on the discourse that elite stakeholders used in relation to Deaf citizens. Elite stakeholders appeared to be ‘outward looking’, while the emphasis of Deaf communities was ‘inward looking’. Elite stakeholders, however, had some windows into the world of policy making, and they used discourse strategies that enabled them to operate in these worlds, namely by understanding the ways different discourses operate in the Deaf and hearing world. Deaf citizens tended to be excluded from such worlds unless they could master these discourse strategies as well as understand the culture of the institution, so attempts to stress that the Deaf citizen could make use of structures and institutions to bring about change needed also to take account of the way discourse operates and effectively excludes Deaf people. The focus and concentration in those chapters has been on discourse; the following chapters offer a re-evaluation the concept of citizenship in light of these interpretations.

The following two chapters will address the usefulness of citizenship as a concept in exploring the issues faced by Deaf people. The chapters deal with theory and practice in turn. In Chapter 7, interpretations of the text will be offered, affording insights into those Deaf citizens’ experiences that might lead to a review of the concept of citizenship. The notion of citizenship is not abandoned but updated and ameliorated extended. By considering citizenship through a Deaf lens, that is from a Deaf perspective, alternative understandings of the concept become possible. In addition, Marshall’s concept of citizenship will be critical re-evaluated in light of this new evidence. The use of critical discourse analysis will also be addressed. Chapter 8 will re-examine concepts raised in the literature review, such as audism. Education was a prominent topic in the data that was collected, and so this chapter will consider current literature on the education of deaf children and explore its implications using citizenship as a tool. In line with critical discourse analysis practices this exploration of the issue of education will be undertaken with the power imbalance between Deaf and other citizen’s experiences in mind.