Michael Feely | Trinity College Dublin (original) (raw)
Papers by Michael Feely
Disability & Society, 2021
From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self- advocate... more From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self- advocates with intellectual disabilities to co-design, co-deliver, and co-assess an entire disability module...
Qualitative Research, 2019
Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have i... more Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have informed, have been criticised for focusing excessively on human discourse and human action whilst overlooking the importance of the material and non-human world. Alongside these critiques we have witnessed the emergence of new-materialist theories and methodologies that attempt to address the perceived shortcomings of social constructionism and poststructuralism. This article aims to make a small contribution to these developments by introducing an experimental new-materialist method for analysing narrative data. The method, which was developed during a qualitative research project exploring the treatment of sexuality within a disability service, borrows from established methods of poststructuralist discourse analysis whilst also seeking to remain attentive to the material, affective and non-human forces that shape and affect the stories people tell.
Sexualities, 2016
Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often fin... more Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper – which pertains to the Republic of Ireland – I take up the Foucauldian and Deleuzian position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population’s sexuality continues to be controlled today.
Somatechnics, 2015
It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we ... more It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we label intellectually disabled makes them vulnerable to sexual abuse or exploitation. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative research project regarding the treatment of sexuality within a service for adults with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland, I take a very different approach. I argue that, suspicions, fears, and allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation are best understood as produced in, and by, the material-semiotic assemblage that both service providers and service users inhabit. In the most reductive terms possible, I am going to suggest that suspicions and allegations of sexual exploitation are continually produced within the disability service because the two social species (‘normal people’ and ‘people with intellectual disabilities’) that inhabit this material territory, and share its spaces, understand intimate relationships with and amongst people with...
Disability Studies Quarterly, 2018
Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with ... more Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD] has primarily focussed on Article 12, the right to exercise legal capacity. Article 13, which declares the right to access justice and the right to access procedural accommodations for all with disabilities, is often neglected. Specifically, research has not sufficiently explored the accommodations needed by witnesses with communication difficulties to testify in the courtroom. This study brings this aspect of Article 13 into focus by exploring the views of Irish legal professionals and disability advocates regarding existing and potential further accommodations for witnesses with communication diffiuclties in Irish criminal proceedings. By comparing and contrasting contributions, a series of conflicting perspectives between the legal profession and disability community are revealed. As successful implementation of Article 13 requires collaboration between both groups...
Disability & Society, 2021
From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self-advocates... more From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self-advocates with intellectual disabilities to co-design, co-deliver, and co-assess an entire disability module for third-year undergraduate social work students. There are few, if any, reports of university modules of this type, involving adults with intellectual disabilities, in the existing literature. Alongside and after the module, our group of academics and self-advocates conducted inclusive research regarding relevant stakeholders’ experiences of the initiative. This paper relates to university students’ experiences of being taught and assessed by adults with intellectual disabilities. These experiences were overwhelmingly positive with reported benefits including increased comfort around disability and greater empathy with people with people with disabilities. This said, some aspects of being taught and assessed by self-advocates with intellectual disabilities also provoked considerable anxiety among students.
National Disability Authority , 2019
A Literature Review to Inform the Development of a National Framework for Person-Centred Planning... more A Literature Review to Inform the Development of a National Framework for Person-Centred Planning in Disability Services in Ireland
Irish disability policy, in line with international treaties such as the United Nations Conventio... more Irish disability policy, in line with international treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), aims to support people with intellectual disabilities to live included lives in their community. Despite this, people with intellectual disabilities are far more likely to experience social exclusion than non-disabled people. However, there are also people with intellectual disabilities taking part in their communities and living ordinary lives all over Ireland. The aim of this research is to let people hear their stories and to show that it is possible for people with intellectual disabilities to live socially included lives in communities.
This research is inspired by the ’19 Stories of Social Inclusion’ project carried out in Australia. Its approach was to start with the ‘success stories’ and work backwards to find out how people have created socially included lives for themselves.
This report is accompanied by an easy to read report of the research as well as a series of stories, some told through video, some through images and text, hosted on the Inclusion Ireland website. The dissemination of the participants’ stories by accessible means aims to support people with intellectual disabilities and families to contribute to bringing about greater levels of social inclusion. Taken together, the report and stories demonstrate what successful implementation of Article 19 of the UNCRPD looks like.
Qualitative Research, 2019
Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have i... more Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have informed, have been criticised for focusing excessively on human discourse and human action whilst overlooking the importance of the material and non-human world. Alongside these critiques we have witnessed the emergence of new-materialist theories and methodologies that attempt to address the perceived shortcomings of social constructionism and poststructuralism. This article aims to make a small contribution to these developments by introducing an experimental new-materialist method for analysing narrative data. The method, which was developed during a qualitative research project exploring the treatment of sexuality within a disability service, borrows from established methods of poststructuralist discourse analysis whilst also seeking to remain attentive to the material, affective and non-human forces that shape and affect the stories people tell.
Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with ... more Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD] has primarily focussed on Article 12, the right to exercise legal capacity. Article 13, which declares the right to access justice and the right to access procedural accommodations for all with disabilities, is often neglected. Specifically, research has not sufficiently explored the accommodations needed by witnesses with communication difficulties to testify in the courtroom. This study brings this aspect of Article 13 into focus by exploring the views of Irish legal professionals and disability advocates regarding existing and potential further accommodations for witnesses with communication diffiuclties in Irish criminal proceedings. By comparing and contrasting contributions, a series of conflicting perspectives between the legal profession and disability community are revealed. As successful implementation of Article 13 requires collaboration between both groups, this study concludes that these conflicts will need to be acknowledged and addressed in order for reform of courtroom accommodations to succeed.
Over recent decades, poststructuralist theories have allowed critical disability scholars to chal... more Over recent decades, poststructuralist theories have allowed critical
disability scholars to challenge essentialist understandings of the
human species and to contest discourses which divide humans
into ‘normal’/‘impaired’ subjects with respect to a wide – and ever
expanding – range of corporeal and cognitive traits. For critics,
however, these theories are deeply flawed. By focusing primarily
on language, poststructuralism shifts our critical attention away
from the often harsh material realities of life for disabled people.
This has led some to turn to critical realism and to effectively reessentialise
impairment. In this article, I wish to consider an alternative
approach. I suggest that the recent ‘ontological turn’ in social theory
has seen the emergence of new-materialist approaches – including
Deleuze and Guattari’s ontology of assemblage and methodology
of assemblage analysis – which allow us to consider disability as a
material phenomenon without a return to essentialism.
Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often fin... more Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper – which pertains to the Republic of Ireland – I take up the Foucauldian and Deleuzian position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population's sexuality continues to be controlled today. Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper – which pertains to the Republic of Ireland – I take up the Foucauldian (1977) and Deleuzian (1992) position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population's sexuality continues to be controlled today.
In this thesis I take up a DeleuzoGuattarian methodology of assemblage analysis. I use this metho... more In this thesis I take up a DeleuzoGuattarian methodology of assemblage analysis. I use this methodology to produce a partial and necessarily incomplete map of how the problem of sexuality is produced within the specific material context of Rathbeg Services (pseudonym) for adults labelled as having intellectual disabilities. The primary method of data collection was in-depth narrative interviews with a strategic sample of service providers and male service users. Service users were invited to share opinions on, and to tell stories about, attending a service and attempting to lead a sexual life (broadly defined). Meanwhile, service providers were invited to share opinions on, and to tell stories about, working within a service and working with male service users around issues pertaining to sexuality (broadly defined). This process led to the collection of a large volume of opinions and a huge number of stories, told from a variety of perspectives, about the treatment of sexuality within the service. The data was analysed using a bespoke method of assemblage analysis. Two intricately interconnected themes were recognised as central to the problematisation of sexuality: firstly, intense sexual surveillance; and, secondly, widespread fears regarding sexual abuse.
Sexual surveillance and fears of abuse were treated, and analysed, as assemblages. This process led to the production of two maps. The first explores how sexual surveillance works in a post-institutional community based service. The second elucidates how fears and suspicion of sexual abuse are continually produced within the service, despite a lack of accounts detailing non-consensual acts. It is hoped that the maps I produce might be of some use to a range of people (self-advocates, activists, service providers, academics, theorists). However, the method is not reductive or deductive and I do not provide recommendations for practice for particular professional groups. My own interests lie in disability activism and supporting self-advocacy and I have used accessible versions of the research as a basis for discussion with a self-advocacy group (that includes the service users who took part in this project). Our group now travels throughout Ireland giving lectures in universities, to student social workers and social care workers, and holding discussion groups in intellectual disability services.
It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we ... more It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we label intellectually disabled makes them vulnerable to sexual abuse or exploitation. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative research project regarding the treatment of sexuality within a service for adults with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland, I take a very different approach. I argue that, suspicions, fears, and allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation are best understood as produced in, and by, the material-semiotic assemblage that both service providers and service users inhabit. In the most reductive terms possible, I am going to suggest that suspicions and allegations of sexual exploitation are continually produced within the disability service because the two social species (‘normal people’ and ‘people with intellectual disabilities’) that inhabit this material territory, and share its spaces, understand intimate relationships with and amongst people with intellectual disabilities through very different discursive lenses.
Disability & Society, 2021
From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self- advocate... more From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self- advocates with intellectual disabilities to co-design, co-deliver, and co-assess an entire disability module...
Qualitative Research, 2019
Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have i... more Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have informed, have been criticised for focusing excessively on human discourse and human action whilst overlooking the importance of the material and non-human world. Alongside these critiques we have witnessed the emergence of new-materialist theories and methodologies that attempt to address the perceived shortcomings of social constructionism and poststructuralism. This article aims to make a small contribution to these developments by introducing an experimental new-materialist method for analysing narrative data. The method, which was developed during a qualitative research project exploring the treatment of sexuality within a disability service, borrows from established methods of poststructuralist discourse analysis whilst also seeking to remain attentive to the material, affective and non-human forces that shape and affect the stories people tell.
Sexualities, 2016
Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often fin... more Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper – which pertains to the Republic of Ireland – I take up the Foucauldian and Deleuzian position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population’s sexuality continues to be controlled today.
Somatechnics, 2015
It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we ... more It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we label intellectually disabled makes them vulnerable to sexual abuse or exploitation. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative research project regarding the treatment of sexuality within a service for adults with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland, I take a very different approach. I argue that, suspicions, fears, and allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation are best understood as produced in, and by, the material-semiotic assemblage that both service providers and service users inhabit. In the most reductive terms possible, I am going to suggest that suspicions and allegations of sexual exploitation are continually produced within the disability service because the two social species (‘normal people’ and ‘people with intellectual disabilities’) that inhabit this material territory, and share its spaces, understand intimate relationships with and amongst people with...
Disability Studies Quarterly, 2018
Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with ... more Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD] has primarily focussed on Article 12, the right to exercise legal capacity. Article 13, which declares the right to access justice and the right to access procedural accommodations for all with disabilities, is often neglected. Specifically, research has not sufficiently explored the accommodations needed by witnesses with communication difficulties to testify in the courtroom. This study brings this aspect of Article 13 into focus by exploring the views of Irish legal professionals and disability advocates regarding existing and potential further accommodations for witnesses with communication diffiuclties in Irish criminal proceedings. By comparing and contrasting contributions, a series of conflicting perspectives between the legal profession and disability community are revealed. As successful implementation of Article 13 requires collaboration between both groups...
Disability & Society, 2021
From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self-advocates... more From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self-advocates with intellectual disabilities to co-design, co-deliver, and co-assess an entire disability module for third-year undergraduate social work students. There are few, if any, reports of university modules of this type, involving adults with intellectual disabilities, in the existing literature. Alongside and after the module, our group of academics and self-advocates conducted inclusive research regarding relevant stakeholders’ experiences of the initiative. This paper relates to university students’ experiences of being taught and assessed by adults with intellectual disabilities. These experiences were overwhelmingly positive with reported benefits including increased comfort around disability and greater empathy with people with people with disabilities. This said, some aspects of being taught and assessed by self-advocates with intellectual disabilities also provoked considerable anxiety among students.
National Disability Authority , 2019
A Literature Review to Inform the Development of a National Framework for Person-Centred Planning... more A Literature Review to Inform the Development of a National Framework for Person-Centred Planning in Disability Services in Ireland
Irish disability policy, in line with international treaties such as the United Nations Conventio... more Irish disability policy, in line with international treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), aims to support people with intellectual disabilities to live included lives in their community. Despite this, people with intellectual disabilities are far more likely to experience social exclusion than non-disabled people. However, there are also people with intellectual disabilities taking part in their communities and living ordinary lives all over Ireland. The aim of this research is to let people hear their stories and to show that it is possible for people with intellectual disabilities to live socially included lives in communities.
This research is inspired by the ’19 Stories of Social Inclusion’ project carried out in Australia. Its approach was to start with the ‘success stories’ and work backwards to find out how people have created socially included lives for themselves.
This report is accompanied by an easy to read report of the research as well as a series of stories, some told through video, some through images and text, hosted on the Inclusion Ireland website. The dissemination of the participants’ stories by accessible means aims to support people with intellectual disabilities and families to contribute to bringing about greater levels of social inclusion. Taken together, the report and stories demonstrate what successful implementation of Article 19 of the UNCRPD looks like.
Qualitative Research, 2019
Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have i... more Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have informed, have been criticised for focusing excessively on human discourse and human action whilst overlooking the importance of the material and non-human world. Alongside these critiques we have witnessed the emergence of new-materialist theories and methodologies that attempt to address the perceived shortcomings of social constructionism and poststructuralism. This article aims to make a small contribution to these developments by introducing an experimental new-materialist method for analysing narrative data. The method, which was developed during a qualitative research project exploring the treatment of sexuality within a disability service, borrows from established methods of poststructuralist discourse analysis whilst also seeking to remain attentive to the material, affective and non-human forces that shape and affect the stories people tell.
Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with ... more Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD] has primarily focussed on Article 12, the right to exercise legal capacity. Article 13, which declares the right to access justice and the right to access procedural accommodations for all with disabilities, is often neglected. Specifically, research has not sufficiently explored the accommodations needed by witnesses with communication difficulties to testify in the courtroom. This study brings this aspect of Article 13 into focus by exploring the views of Irish legal professionals and disability advocates regarding existing and potential further accommodations for witnesses with communication diffiuclties in Irish criminal proceedings. By comparing and contrasting contributions, a series of conflicting perspectives between the legal profession and disability community are revealed. As successful implementation of Article 13 requires collaboration between both groups, this study concludes that these conflicts will need to be acknowledged and addressed in order for reform of courtroom accommodations to succeed.
Over recent decades, poststructuralist theories have allowed critical disability scholars to chal... more Over recent decades, poststructuralist theories have allowed critical
disability scholars to challenge essentialist understandings of the
human species and to contest discourses which divide humans
into ‘normal’/‘impaired’ subjects with respect to a wide – and ever
expanding – range of corporeal and cognitive traits. For critics,
however, these theories are deeply flawed. By focusing primarily
on language, poststructuralism shifts our critical attention away
from the often harsh material realities of life for disabled people.
This has led some to turn to critical realism and to effectively reessentialise
impairment. In this article, I wish to consider an alternative
approach. I suggest that the recent ‘ontological turn’ in social theory
has seen the emergence of new-materialist approaches – including
Deleuze and Guattari’s ontology of assemblage and methodology
of assemblage analysis – which allow us to consider disability as a
material phenomenon without a return to essentialism.
Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often fin... more Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper – which pertains to the Republic of Ireland – I take up the Foucauldian and Deleuzian position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population's sexuality continues to be controlled today. Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper – which pertains to the Republic of Ireland – I take up the Foucauldian (1977) and Deleuzian (1992) position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population's sexuality continues to be controlled today.
In this thesis I take up a DeleuzoGuattarian methodology of assemblage analysis. I use this metho... more In this thesis I take up a DeleuzoGuattarian methodology of assemblage analysis. I use this methodology to produce a partial and necessarily incomplete map of how the problem of sexuality is produced within the specific material context of Rathbeg Services (pseudonym) for adults labelled as having intellectual disabilities. The primary method of data collection was in-depth narrative interviews with a strategic sample of service providers and male service users. Service users were invited to share opinions on, and to tell stories about, attending a service and attempting to lead a sexual life (broadly defined). Meanwhile, service providers were invited to share opinions on, and to tell stories about, working within a service and working with male service users around issues pertaining to sexuality (broadly defined). This process led to the collection of a large volume of opinions and a huge number of stories, told from a variety of perspectives, about the treatment of sexuality within the service. The data was analysed using a bespoke method of assemblage analysis. Two intricately interconnected themes were recognised as central to the problematisation of sexuality: firstly, intense sexual surveillance; and, secondly, widespread fears regarding sexual abuse.
Sexual surveillance and fears of abuse were treated, and analysed, as assemblages. This process led to the production of two maps. The first explores how sexual surveillance works in a post-institutional community based service. The second elucidates how fears and suspicion of sexual abuse are continually produced within the service, despite a lack of accounts detailing non-consensual acts. It is hoped that the maps I produce might be of some use to a range of people (self-advocates, activists, service providers, academics, theorists). However, the method is not reductive or deductive and I do not provide recommendations for practice for particular professional groups. My own interests lie in disability activism and supporting self-advocacy and I have used accessible versions of the research as a basis for discussion with a self-advocacy group (that includes the service users who took part in this project). Our group now travels throughout Ireland giving lectures in universities, to student social workers and social care workers, and holding discussion groups in intellectual disability services.
It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we ... more It is commonplace, in our historical moment, to assume the inherent characteristics of people we label intellectually disabled makes them vulnerable to sexual abuse or exploitation. Drawing on the findings of a qualitative research project regarding the treatment of sexuality within a service for adults with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland, I take a very different approach. I argue that, suspicions, fears, and allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation are best understood as produced in, and by, the material-semiotic assemblage that both service providers and service users inhabit. In the most reductive terms possible, I am going to suggest that suspicions and allegations of sexual exploitation are continually produced within the disability service because the two social species (‘normal people’ and ‘people with intellectual disabilities’) that inhabit this material territory, and share its spaces, understand intimate relationships with and amongst people with intellectual disabilities through very different discursive lenses.