Research on Deaf Individuals by Hearing Persons: One Deaf Researcher’s Perspective (original) (raw)

Deaf Ethnicity, Deafhood, and Their Relationship

Sign Language Studies, 2013

S eve ral sc h olar s have asked what are the relations between two recently developed concepts, Deaf ethnicity and Deafhood. The emergence of these concepts, along with others such as "audism" (Humphries 1977), "dysconscious audism," "Sign Language Peoples," and "Deaf Gain" reflects important attempts by Deaf communities and their allies to redefine Deaf peoples, their cultures, and their languages. As part of the same process, starting in the 1990s, older concepts such as "People of the Eye," have been presented anew, and externally generated concepts such as postcolonialism have been brought to bear. Similar processes of redefining identity can be found among other minority groups, such as African Americans, women, gays and lesbians and disabled people, all of whom have felt the need to escape the reductionist lens of definitions created by oppressors, developing instead conceptualizations that assist with the liberation of their communities. "Deaf ethnicity" and "Deafhood" are two such conceptualizations. We start by explaining "Deaf ethnicity" and "Deafhood," and then we address their relations.

Deaf and Hearing: Conducting Cross-Cultural Research in a Postsecondary Setting

2019

This paper describes cross-cultural research methods that were used in a case study of a community college in the Midwest. During the course of the research, the importance of applying cross-cultural research methods became apparent. Analysis of the research process resulted in a identification of three aspects of cross-cultural design. These are the cross cultural research guidelines applied to Deafness, the context of the study, and the conduct of the research. The results indicated that when the interests of people who were Deaf were considered, cross-cultural collaboration was possible, there was benefit to the Deaf culture and the mainstream, and professionals who were Deaf were recognized. Creswell (Creswell, 1998) has described culture as an "abstraction, something that cannot be observed directly" and that is comprised of "behaviors, language and artifacts" (p. 245). In order to conduct research across cultures, it is important for researchers to recogniz...

27 Qualitative Inquiry The Role of the Intellectual in Minority Group Studies: Reflections on Deaf Studies in Social and Political Introduction

The role and position of minority group intellectuals in the social sciences has been the subject of some research and debate, but not, until recently, within the field of Deaf studies. In this article, we will explore the role of the Deaf intellectual in their relations to the academic field and the Deaf community. We offer a critique of the prevailing theoretical framework of postmodernism and an alternative approach based on critical theory and Bourdieusian frameworks. There is a dearth of literature in the area, and this article is intended to initiate a much-needed discussion, including scholars within disciplines such as sociology, political science, cultural studies, and critical theory.

Inclusive Deaf Studies: Barriers and Pathways

Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf …, 2010

Joining scholars signaling the need for new directions in Deaf Studies, the authors recommend a more expansive, nuanced, and interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the many ways deaf people live today. Rather than destroy Deaf culture, this approach is the only realistic way to allow it and Deaf Studies to survive. Deaf Studies today continues the focus of founding scholarship on native White American Sign Language users, now head of a powerful hierarchy through which they receive privileged status at the expense of deaf people with different language backgrounds and races or ethnicities. This marginalization is unsustainable and impedes knowledge. A companion article (this issue), “Deaf Studies: A Critique of the Predominant U.S. Theoretical Direction,” analyzes this reactive stance that is oriented by a focus on audism built on the concepts of phonocentrism and colonialism. For Deaf Studies to be fully an academic field upholding intellectual values, scholars must broaden their focus of study to encompass diverse deaf people—diverse in communication, culture, race, and ethnicity. A companion article, “Deaf Studies: A Critique of the Predominant U.S. Theoretical Direction,” looks at the intellectual stance framed by a theory of audism and built on concepts of phonocentrism and colonialism. Together, the two articles reveal the predominant direction in Deaf Studies and in the core White Deaf community as reactive toward changing historical conditions and the variety of deaf lives today. Incorporating other scholars’ signals of the need for new directions in Deaf Studies, the authors recommend that the field take a more expansive, nuanced, and interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the many ways deaf people live today. Some worry that such changes will destroy Deaf culture. In the face of tremendous changes in technology and greater access for deaf people to the hearing mainstream, it is the only realistic way to allow it and Deaf Studies to survive. The predominant direction in Deaf Studies departments and programs in U.S. institutions of higher education, however, continues the focus and concerns that established the field in the 1970s with the scholarly recognition of American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture. This founding scholarship validates and instills pride in native ASL users and demarcates boundaries of Deaf culture. What remains in the shadows is the fact that the pride of ASL users has evolved into a powerful hierarchy through which native White ASL users and those born into Deaf culture receive privileged status at the expense of other deaf people. Changing historical conditions are eschewed for a frame of audism that casts events as part of a repeating, endless oppression by hearing people in which deaf people participate as a marginalized, embattled Other. Certainly, native users of ASL maintained the language and culture associated with it through times of extreme oppression. Hence, this group will always have historical importance. However, today both activists and some scholars fix cultural borders and stigmatize ways other deaf people live. These issues demonstrate barriers to an inclusive and proactive Deaf Studies. http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/1/17.full#abstract-1

Deaf Persons of Asian American, Hispanic American, and African American Backgrounds: A Study of Intraindividual Diversity and Identity

Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education - J DEAF STUD DEAF EDUC, 2003

This article explores the ways in which deaf college students who are members of minority racial groups think about and describe their identities. In-depth, semistructured interviews with 33 deaf students of Asian American, Hispanic American, and African American background were analyzed for themes regarding the self-reported identities of respondents. Results suggest that each person is a constellation of many parts, some of which are stronger than others but any of which can be drawn out in response to a particular set of circumstances, resulting in a contextual and interactive model of identity. Four factors are described as central to this "intraindividual" model: individual characteristics, situational conditions, social conditions, and societal conditions. Additionally, the model includes a biographical component reflected in changes in identity that occur over time. Findings are discussed as they relate to identity theory. The article is concluded with recommendations for further research, as well as considerations for educators and counselors of deaf minority students. Review of Relevant Literature The literature suggests that the academic, personal, and social development of hearing minority youth in the United States is often complicated by minority group

The Role of the Intellectual in Minority Group Studies: Reflections on Deaf Studies in Socio-political Context

Qualitative Inquiry, 2014

The role and position of minority group intellectuals in the social sciences has been the subject of some research and debate, but not, until recently, within the field of Deaf studies. In this article, we will explore the role of the Deaf intellectual in their relations to the academic field and the Deaf community. We offer a critique of the prevailing theoretical framework of postmodernism and an alternative approach based on critical theory and Bourdieusian frameworks. There is a dearth of literature in the area, and this article is intended to initiate a much-needed discussion, including scholars within disciplines such as sociology, political science, cultural studies, and critical theory.

Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience

International Journal of Bilingualism, 1998

Click here if your download doesn"t start automatically Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience This edited volume provides a comprehensive analysis of deaf people as a culturally and linguistically distinct minority group within American society. Many educators, linguists, and researchers now favor this position, as opposed to that which states that a deaf person simply has an audiological disability. Contributors to this book include members of the deaf community, as well as prominent deaf and hearing educators and researchers. The text contains three sections, covering research on bilingualism and biculturalism, the impact of cultural and language diversity on the deaf experience, and first-hand accounts from deaf community members that highlight the emotional impact of living in the deaf and hearing worlds. Download Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience ...pdf Read Online Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experien ...pdf Download and Read Free Online Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Free PDF d0wnl0ad, audio books, books to read, good books to read, cheap books, good books, online books, books online, book reviews epub, read books online, books to read online, online library, greatbooks to read, PDF best books to read, top books to read Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience books to read online. Online Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience ebook PDF download Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Doc Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Mobipocket Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience EPub Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Ebook online Cultural and Language Diversity and the Deaf Experience Ebook PDF