PEOPLE WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY IN SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH Theological reflections on the consequences of contemporary social welfare policies as seen through the lens of social capital theory by ANTHONY GERARD CRISP A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Urban Theology Unit, Sheffield Department of Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham September 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. This research is dedicated to Rev. Dr. John Vincent and Rev. Dr. Eric Wright of the Urban Theology Unit, Sheffield with my gratitude for their wisdom and guidance. Anthony Crisp PEOPLE WITH A LEARNING DISABILITY IN SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH Theological reflections on the consequences of contemporary social welfare policies as seen through the lens of social capital theory ANTHONY GERARD CRISP ABSTRACT Jürgen Moltmann suggests that where liberal market welfare policies are introduced people with learning disabilities are disadvantaged, whereas Christian communities provide a more favourable environment. This hypothesis is investigated by assessing the social capital available to two groups of people with a learning disability. The members of one group are being supported to live independent lives as ‘citizen consumers.’ The second group are members of a Roman Catholic parish community supported by their families. The results suggest that both groups have few resources of bridging or linking capital. The second group have larger and richer resources of bonding capital which comes largely through family networks. They also had significant resources of spiritual capital but not religious capital. In the light of the results, a theological critique is undertaken of some aspects of contemporary social policy and consumer culture. A distinction is made between human relationships as transactions and as gifts. Insights from the theology of gift relationships are offered. The question is raised whether it is appropriate to consider gift relationships as a form of capital and Churches as a form of social capital. Liturgy is considered as a form of liberative praxis. CONTENTS Page Chapter 1 - Towards a Theological Engagement with British Social Policy and its Consequences for the Lives of People with Learning Disability 1 1.1 Introduction & Scope of the Study 1.2 Social Capital: Some Preliminary Remarks 1.3 Churches as Mediating Structures 1.4 On the Theological Roots of Contemporary Social Welfare Policies 1.5 Theology & Learning Disability 1.6 Theoretical and Methodological Issues 1.6.1 The Nature of Contextual Theologising 1.6.2 Cross-Disciplinary Engagement between Theology and other Disciplines – Metatheoretical Issues 1.6.3 Cross Disciplinary Engagement between Theology and other Disciplines – Methodological Issues 1.6.4 The Use of Multiple Methods in Contextual Research Chapter 2 – People with Learning Disabilities: Contemporary Social Policies and their Empirical Consequences 42 2.1 Social Policy Context 2.2 Liberal Market Policies and Welfare Regimes 2.3 The Changing Context of Learning Disability in Britain – the material context 2.4 The Changing Context of Learning Disability in Britain – the ideological context 2.5 Learning Disabilities – the Natural Science Approach 2.6 Learning Disability as a Social Construct 2.7 Citizenship through Normalisation 2.8 The Principle of Normalisation is not without its Difficulties 2.9 Consumerism 2.10 Significant Government Policy Statements which emphasise Consumer Choice in Social Care 2.11 Social Market Policies – some successes but many problems remain unsolved 2.12 Health of People with Learning Disabilities 2.13 Employment, Poverty & Learning Disability 2.14 Victimisation & Abuse of People with Learning Disabilities 2.15 Social Integration of People with Learning Disabilities 2.16 People with Learning Disabilities as an Excluded Minority 2.17 Conclusion Chapter 3 – The Catholic Church and People with Learning Disabilities in the Post Vatican II Era – Contemporary Catholic Social Practices in the UK 73 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Some Fundamental Theological Concepts 3.3 People with Learning Disabilities within the Roman Catholic Church: A Review of Recent Policy Documents 3.4 Valuing People and Valuing Difference: A Comparative Analysis 3.5 Readiness 3.6 Preparing People with Learning Disabilities for Readiness in Religious Contexts 3.6.1 Worship and Catechesis 3.6.2 Friendship and Community 3.6.3 L’Arche 3.7 Assessing Readiness Chapter 4 – Social Capital: The Origin and Development of the Concept and its Measurement 97 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Social Capital: Some Historical Antecedents in Anglo-American Literature 4.3 Social Capital – Historical Antecedents in European Thought 4.4 Contemporary Theories of Social Capital 4.5 James S Coleman: Endogenous Social Capital 4.5.1 Main Characteristics of Social Capital according to Coleman 4.5.2 Secondary Features of Social Capital 4.5.3 Social Capital and the Family 4.5.4 Threats to the Formation of Social Capital 4.5.5 Coleman’s Theory of Social Capital and People with Learning Disabilities 4.6 Pierre Bourdieu: Marxist Analysis of Social Capital 4.6.1 Influence of Marxism on Disability Studies 4.6.2 Pierre Bourdieu’s Marxist Perspective on Social Capital 4.6.3 Studies of Disability from a Bourdieusian Perspective 4.7 Measurement of Social Capital Chapter 5 - Churches as a Source of Social Capital with Particular Reference to the Work of Robert D Putnam 134 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Religious Participation as Facilitation for General Social Participation 5.3 Variability across Traditions 5.4 Organisational Structure 5.5 Spiritual Capital and Religious Capital 5.6 Income Inequality, Race and Gender effects on the Distribution of Civic Skills and Social Capital: Does Church Membership make a Difference? 5.7 Concluding Comments on Putnam’s and Related Work on Churches as Sources of Social Capital Chapter 6 – Social Capital Available to Individuals: Four Case Studies and Qualitative Analysis 165 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Essential Life-Style Planning Process 6.2.1 Essential Life-Style Planning: Different Approaches 6.3 Studies Undertaken 6.4 Participants & Setting 6.4.1 Participants 6.4.2 The Re-Settlement Process 6.4.3 Residential Context 6.4.4 Neighbourhood Context 6.4.5 Support Context 6.4.6 Financial Context 6.5 Study I – Auto-Biographical Narratives – Introduction 6.5.1 Qualitative Analysis 6.6 Conclusions Chapter 7 - Quantitative Studies of Social Capital 196 7.1 Study I: A Study of Shared Values: Introduction 7.2 Questionnaire Design 7.3 Methodological Issues 7.4 Control Group 7.5 Results 7.5.1 Reliability 7.6 Analysis 7.6.1 Participants 7.6.2 Control Group 7.7 Comments 7.8 Study 2: Community Participation and Use of Resources 7.8.1 Introduction and Review of Research 7.8.2 Study Methodology 7.8.3 Results 7.8.4 Comments 7.9 Friendships and Social Integration 7.9.1 Introduction 7.9.2 Procedure 7.9.3 Results 7.10 Quantitative Analysis 7.11 Qualitative Analysis 7.12 Conclusion Chapter 8 – People with Learning Disabilities in a Parish Community: A Study of Religious and Spiritual Capital 221 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Participants and Context 8.2.1 Participants 8.2.2 The Parish Context 8.2.3 Ministry to People with Impairments in the Parish 8.3 Religious and Spiritual Capital: What we understand by These Terms 8.4 Studies of Religious and Spiritual Capital in the Parish Community – Introduction 8.5 Guided Interviews using the Faith Development Schedule Qualitative Analysis 8.5.1 Method of Analysis 8.5.2 Results – Identity within the Church 8.5.3 Church Facilities and Facilities in the Wider Community 8.5.4 Community and Civic Engagement 8.5.5 Social Networks 8.6 Study of Friendship Patterns – Introduction 8.6.1 Results – Quantitative Analysis 8.6.2 Comments 8.7 Spiritual Capital available to the Participants – Introduction 8.7.1 Results – Spiritual Capital I 8.7.2 Spiritual Capital II 8.7.3 Comments 8.8 Study of Religious Social Capital available to the Participants – Introduction 8.8.1 Religious Social Capital – Participants and Control Groups 8.8.2 Comments 8.9 Conclusions Chapter 9 – Concluding Reflections 251 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The Availability of Social Capital to People with Learning Disabilities: a Resume of the Results 9.3 Consumer Choice – its implications for the quality of life of people with learning disabilities 9.3.1 Preliminary Remarks 9.3.2 The Equation of Needs and Desires 9.3.3 Social Networks as Markets – The Body as an Object of Consumer Choice 9.3.4 Market Welfare Policies face Critical Scrutiny 9.4 Social Capital – The Consequences of its Ideological Baggage 9.5 Towards an Alternative Paradigm 9.5.1 From Social Capital to Gift Relationships 9.5.2 Worship as the Primary Locus of the Gift Relationship 9.5.3 Gifting and Social Welfare Policy APPENDICES I. Standards for Essential Life-Style Planning 284 II. Liverpool: Broadgreen and Old Swan Statistical Information 303 III. Case Studies – Refers to Chapter 6 317 IV. Study 2 – Domain Pictures 337 V. Modified Faith Development Framework 334 VI. Case Studies – Refers to Chapter 8 339 VII. Friendships Study Raw Data 341 VIII. Supplementary Material: The Catholic Tradition in the care of People with Learning Disability – its origin and some significant characteristics 363 LIST OF TABLES 1.