Problems of social inclusion of disabled persons: experience of regional research

On the background of social relations complication the countries of the world face the ineffectiveness of the previous forms of social support for the vulnerable groups. The problems of equal opportunities concerning implementation of civil rights for people at risk of social exclusion and income inequality are added to the list of the previous challenges. The phenomenon of social exclusion is harmful for the development of society, first of all, because of the increase of social tension and deterioration of social well-being of the population. The answer to these challenges is social policy, suggesting the inclusion of vulnerable groups into all spheres of society. One of the most striking examples of social groups at risk of social exclusion are the disabled persons. This article, based on the materials of sociological studies conducted in the Vologda Oblast in 2013-2015, shows the peculiarities of public views on people with disabilities and assessment made by disabled persons on such issues, as interaction with other people, most common problems of everyday life, integration prospects and the role of the government support. The results indicate that both on the part of the society and the studied group there are obstacles to the integration process. On the part of the society there are tendency to distance from the interaction with the disabled persons, as well as a lack of ethics of communication with them. On the part of disabled people, a significant obstacle to social inclusion is the prevalence of skeptical and pessimistic assessments concerning equal participation in social life. Performance of mental barriers for social inclusion is combined with the effect of environmental and instrumental barriers. People with disabilities note that they face problems with the availability of transport, lack of proper infrastructure, quality of medical care, the provision of social services (sign language interpretation), as well as employment. In the conclusive part of the article the author suggests recommendations to improve the effectiveness of social policy in the interests of people with disabilities.