GEOGRAPHY OF DISABILITY. AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS OF TWO METROPOLITAN AREAS: MONTERREY, NUEVO LEON AND DALLAS, TEXAS by SILVIYA PAVLOVA NIKOLOVA Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Social Work The University of Nuevo Leon and The University of Texas at Arlington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON December 2013 Copyright © by Silviya Pavlova Nikolova 2013 All Rights Reserved ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all those people that have contributed to the work described in this thesis. This manuscript is the product of the supportive efforts of all those people who believed in me, who have encouraged, sponsored, and motivated me during my learning process. I have to thank CONACYT, Mexico for financing my work as a PhD student and the schools of social work at the University of Nuevo Leon at Monterrey and University of Texas at Arlington for providing me with the educational opportunities and creating a nutritive scientific environment. I am thankful to my UANL and UTA chairs Dra. Claudia Campillo and Dr. John Briocut for their support and encouragement whenever I was in need. My gratitude also to all my committee members Dr. Jesus Trevino, Dr. Vijayan Pillai, and Dr. Helen Hartnett for their precious care and help. Finally, I take this opportunity to express the profound gratitude from my deep heart to my beloved parents Radka and Pavel Stoyanovi, grandparents, my brother Nikolai Nikolov, and my nephews Pepi and Evcho for their love and patience. I LOVE YOU! I would have never succeeded without the support of my best friend Aneliya Dimova and her family, my Puerto Rican Brothers – Alex Casiano and Paul Ferichelli, my UTA friends Arati Maleku, Bonita Sharma, Gracie Vinton, Cecilia Mengo, Lili Kim, my UANL friends Lucia Martinez, Silvia Yague, Maria Paz Carcamo, my Mexican mother Lydia Lazarky, my best GRA professors Dr. Maria Scannapieco and Dr. Eusebius Small, my dear neighbors Yamisko and Mani, and my SUNSHINE Sunny Margarita. YOU ALL have a special place in my heart! August 27, 2013 iii Abstract GEOGRAPHY OF DISABILITY. AN ANALYSIS BASED ON THE SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS OF TWO METROPOLITAN AREAS: MONTERREY, NUEVO LEON AND DALLAS, TEXAS Silviya Pavlova Nikolova, PhD The University of Texas at Arlington, 2013 Co-Supervising Professors: Claudia Campillo and John Bricout This doctoral project investigated the performance of disability within two different political, cultural, and socioeconomic environments. Data were analyzed from decennial census data from Mexico (2010) and the U.S. (2000) that included a measure of disability prevalence and the activities on which disability status is assessed. In Chapter 1, the relevance of the study to the understanding of disability as a context-related matter was explained. Comparative statistics and scholarly reports on disability have been used to discuss the existing discrepancies between disability trends in developing and developed countries. An emphasis for a construction of multifactorial comparative model for disability research was proposed based on previous discussions on disability research. In Chapter 2, empirical and non-empirical literature was critically reviewed. Specifics on welfare inconsistency, program development, and policy implementation were detected with greater program and policy integration observed in the U.S. and iv greater advances in international disability human rights ratifications in Mexico. This study has added new critical context-related dimensions to the comparative research on disability and re-examined the existing knowledge base on disability beyond the Western horizon of disability understandings. In Chapter 3, the theoretical framework of the study was described. A combination of key concepts – (dis)advantaged environments and (dis)ability were discussed from the theoretical standpoint of Amartya Sen and Pierre Bourdieu. In Chapter 4, the research design was described, along with the methodology and rationale. A cross-sectional study design was employed using data from two national census data collections. Conceptual and methodological comparison of disability measurement was thoughtfully discussed and synchronized. Appropriate statistical procedures using GeoDa software for geospatial analysis and computation (version 13.0), and ArcGIS software for mapping and spatial analysis (version 10.1) were used. In Chapter 5, a descriptive analysis on the research population was initially conducted. Spatial econometric models (Global and Local Moran’s Index) were used to measure the overall clustering of the data and to identify localized patterns of spatial autocorrelation. Spatial regression analysis (i.e. Spatial Lag and Spatial Error models) of the first hypothesis was subsequently conducted to eliminate the dependence effect in the data. A geographically weighted regression analysis of the second hypothesis was v also conducted to test the aggregated effects of race and ethnicity on disability prediction in Monterrey and Dallas County. In Chapter 6, the study findings suggest focusing social work efforts towards creating a cohesive environment for individuals with disability on a community level. It also broadens the scope for cohesion to include adaptations for diverse minority groups of people with disabilities. The experience of people with disabilities who belong to minority groups is distinct and thus interventions directed towards them require adaptations. A move towards community empowerment would have a vital role in creating new strategies in disability interventions vi Table of Contents Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………….iii Abstract……………………………………………………………………….………iv List of Illustrations……………………………………………………………………ix List of Maps…………………………………………………………………………...x List of Tables…….……………………………………………………………..……..xi Chapter 1: Introduction…………...………………………………………………..... 1 Introduction and Significance of the Study………………………...……….. 1 Relevance to Social Work………………………………………………….....4 Summary…………………………………………………………………….. 5 Chapter 2: Review of Literature………..………………………………………..….. 6 Review Methods……………………………………………………...………6 Disability and Social Development…………………………………..………7 Disability and Development in the U.S………………………...…….8 Disability and Development in Mexico………………………….……12 Disability Rights. The Right of Employment……………………………...….16 Welfare Paradox…………………………………………………………..…..22 Social Geography…………………………………………….………....….….28 Cross-National Comparison….………………………………………………..30 Objectives and Research Questions...…………………………………………32 Summary…………………………………………………………………..…..34 Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework…………………...………………………….……35 Sen and Bourdieu: Combination of Ideas…………………………….………42 Theoretical Operationalization…………………………………………….….54 Summary………………………………………………………………...…….56 vi Chapter 4: Research Methodology……....…………...………………………….…...57 Research Design……………………………………………………….….….57 Significance…………………………………………………………….….…59 Data Sets and Study Variables……………………………………….......…..61 Study Variables……………………………………………….……...65 Survey Concepts………………………………………….…...……..66 Target Population…………………………………………………........……71 Unit of Analysis……………………………………………………………...72 Homogenization……………………………………………………….……..72 Limitations…………………………………………………………….……..73 Accessibility Approach to Disability……………………………………...…74 Methods for Data Analysis………………………………………………......77 Research Hypothesis and Rationale……………………………………..…..78 Summary……………………………………………………………….…….80 Chapter 5: Results……………………………………………………………....……81 Methodological Note……………………………………………………...…81 Specifics Regarding the Mexican Data Set………...………………………..82 Specifics regarding the U.S. Data Set…………….…………………………83 Descriptive Statistics.……………………………………………………..…84 Spatial Analysis.. …………………………………………………………....97 Regression.………………………………………………………………….109 Summary…………………………………………………………………....149 Chapter 6: Discussion: Integration of Results...……………………..……………..152 Synopsis…………………………………………………………………….153 Major Study Findings……...……………………………………………….156 vii Limitations of the Study……………………………………………………171 Implications for Social Work Practice……..……………………………….174 Implications for Social Work Education.…………………………………..178 Implications for Policy and Research ..…………………………………….180 Future Directions and Conclusion..……………………………………...….184 Appendix A: Variable list...………….……………………………………………….187 Appendix B: Auselin’s Decision Model …………...……………………………….192 Appendix C: Population Pyramids for Mexico and the U.S .…...……….………….194 References……………………………………………………………..………….…196 Biographical Information…………………………………………….……………...223 viii List of Illustrations Figure 3.1 Model of person with disability within environment and space………………. 36 Figure 3.2 Theory of Sen…………………………………………………………………. 49 Figure 3.3 Disability framework………………………………………………………….. 51 Figure 4.1 Model design………………………………………………………………….. 75 Figure 5.1 Disability and race, Dallas County……………………………………………. 86 Figure 5.2 Residuals influenced by neighbors ……………………..…………………….. 95 Figure 5.3 Dependent variable influenced by neighbors ………………………………… 95 Figure 5.4 Global Moran’s I for disability in Monterrey ………………………………… 97 Figure 5.5 Randomization (1)…………………………………………………………….. 98 Figure 5.6 Global Moran’s I for disability prevalence in Dallas county…………………. 100 Figure 5.7 Randomization (2)…………………………………………………………….. 100 Figure 5.8 Global Moran’s I of IUM, Monterrey …………….…………………………… 102 Figure 5.9 Randomization (3)……………………………………………………………… 103 Figure 5.10 Global Moran’s