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Physical disability and social liminality: A study in the rituals of adversity

Author

Listed:
  • Murphy, Robert F.
  • Scheer, Jessica
  • Murphy, Yolanda
  • Mack, Richard

Abstract

Sociological research on the disabled has for the past 25 years made extensive use of a social deviance model to characterize the status of the physically impaired. The present article, which is based on a three-year anthropological investigation of the social relations of paraplegics and quadriplegics in the New York metropolitan area, argues that there are shortcomings in the deviance model and offers, instead, a model taken from the anthropological study of ritual. The disabled are viewed as being in a 'liminal' state, as in the liminal phases of rites of passages. They are persons having an undefined status: they are neither ill nor well, neither socially alive and active nor socially expunged and removed. The status of the disabled in American society and the symbolism of disability in American culture are reexamined within this framework. This perspective is extended to other types of deep adversity, such as acute loss of income and status or catastrophic illness.

Suggested Citation

  • Murphy, Robert F. & Scheer, Jessica & Murphy, Yolanda & Mack, Richard, 1988. "Physical disability and social liminality: A study in the rituals of adversity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 235-242, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:26:y:1988:i:2:p:235-242
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    Cited by:

    1. Ana Patrícia Hilário & Fábio Rafael Augusto, 2022. "Pathways for a ‘Good Death’: Understanding End-of-Life Practices Through An Ethnographic Study in Two Portuguese Palliative Care Units," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 27(2), pages 219-235, June.
    2. Kristin Turney, 2013. "Liminal Men: Incarceration and Family Instability," Working Papers 1478, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    3. Paul Stenner & Raffaele De Luca Picione, 2023. "A Theoretically Informed Critical Review of Research Applying the Concept of Liminality to Understand Experiences with Cancer: Implications for a New Oncological Agenda in Health Psychology," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-21, May.
    4. Beudaert, Anthony & Özçağlar-Toulouse, Nil & Türe, Meltem, 2016. "Becoming sensory disabled: Exploring self-transformation through rites of passage," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 57-64.
    5. Robin Digby & Susan Lee & Allison Williams, 2018. "The liminality of the patient with dementia in hospital," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1-2), pages 70-79, January.
    6. Menkes, David B. & Davison, Mary P. & Costello, Shaun A. & Jaye, Chrystal, 2005. "Stereotactic radiosurgery: the patient's experience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 2561-2573, June.
    7. Dumit, Joseph, 2006. "Illnesses you have to fight to get: Facts as forces in uncertain, emergent illnesses," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 577-590, February.
    8. Gentry, James W. & Kennedy, Patricia F. & Paul, Catherine & Hill, Ronald Paul, 1995. "Family transitions during grief: Discontinuities in household consumption patterns," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 67-79, September.

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