Embodied Practices of Prosthesis

While the prosthesis is often thought of as a technology or an artefact used to ‘fix’ or make ‘whole’ a disabled body, it has also become an important figuration and metaphor for thinking about disabled embodiment as an emblematic manifestation of bodily difference and mobility. Furthermore, the ambiguity and broadness of prosthesis as an object and a concept, as well as its potential as a theoretical and analytical thinking tool, show up in widely different areas of popular culture, art and academic scholarship. In this article, we explore the opportunities of the ways in which prosthesis might be a helpful and productive fi gure in relation to framing, analyzing and understanding certain healthcare-related practices that are not traditionally associated with disability. Our aim is to suggest new ways of building onto the idea of the performative value of the prosthetic fi gure and its logics as a continuum through which very different forms of embodied practices could be meaningfully understood and analyzed. Thus, we argue that the logic of the prosthesis can be helpful in uncovering tensions related to idealistic and dominant ideas about health and embodiment. First, we engage with the theoretical discussions from cultural studies, including critical disability studies, in which we broaden the scope of the concept of prosthesis. Second, we introduce and discuss two illustrative case examples in the form of dance therapeutic practices for people with Parkinson’s disease and group therapeutic practices in male-friendly spaces. In doing so, we seek to raise new questions about the ongoing cultivation of bodily and health-related interventions through the lens of the prosthetic spectrum, which we have labelled embodied practices of prosthesis

Educating Resilient Social Work Professionals

This article deals with the concept of vulnerability in social work and how social work students understand the concept of professionalism. The article is based on an empirical study of social worker students and on analysis of the literature used in the education. Theoretically, the article rests upon vulnerability theory as elaborated by Martha Fineman. The analysis suggests that the social worker students share an understanding of the client as vulnerable, and of the social worker as not vulnerable. This entails a view that the social worker is objective and somewhat distanced from his/her clients. The article argues that this understanding runs the risk of producing non-reflexive social work practitioners that are not aware of their own vulnerable position. In conclusion, we state that an understanding of professionalism centred on a shared vulnerability of all beings could bridge the often-used dichotomous understanding of the social worker as either “helper” or “authoritative bureaucrat” and thus lead to a more resilient concept of professionalism

Medborgerskab og betalt arbejde: minoritetsetniske kvinder mellem inkludering og ekskludering

This thesis focuses on the lived experiences of ethnic minority women in an analysis of employment and citizenship in a Danish context. The empirical material consists of six semi-structured qualitative interviews. These are analysed using feminist and postcolonial theories of citizenship and nation. The thesis has two focal points. Firstly, the analysis covers how the informants relate to norms of economic self-reliance, reciprocity and gender equality. Norms that are often considered central to the conception of the Danish welfare state. Secondly, the analysis covers experiences of gendered and racialized discrimination and marginalization in relation to employment. The thesis concludes that the informants identify with the norms related to employment and participate in employment as a citizenship practice. The informants' articulations of relations to citizenship norms are also read as negotiations of belonging to the nation-state. At the same time their positions in the labour market are revealed as marginalized, and they encounter gendered and racialized discrimination and marginalization. On this basis, the thesis argues, that the informants in different ways can be regarded as both included in and excluded from citizenship

To be active through indoor-climbing: an exploratory feasibility study in a group of children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children

Background: Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common cause of motor disabilities in children and young adults and it is also often associated with cognitive and physiological challenges. Climbing requires a multifaceted repertoire of movements, participants at all levels of expertise may be challenged functionally and cognitively, making climbing of great potential interest in (re) habilitation settings. However, until now only few research projects have investigated the feasibility of climbing as a potential activity for heightening physical activity in children with CP and the possible beneficial effects of climbing activities in populations with functional and/or cognitive challenges. The aim of this study was therefore to test the feasibility of an intensive 3 weeks indoor-climbing training program in children with CP and typically developing (TD) peers. In addition we evaluated possible functional and cognitive benefits of 3 weeks of intensive climbing training in 11 children with cerebral palsy (CP) aged 11-13 years and six of their TD peers.Method: The study was designed as a feasibility and interventional study. We evaluated the amount of time spent being physically active during the 9 indoor-climbing training sessions, and climbing abilities were measured. The participants were tested in a series of physiological, psychological and cognitive tests: two times prior to and one time following the training in order to explore possible effects of the intervention.Results: The children accomplished the training goal of a total of nine sessions within the 3-week training period. The time of physical activity during a 2: 30 h climbing session, was comparably high in the group of children with CP and the TD children. The children with CP were physically active on average for almost 16 h in total during the 3 weeks. Both groups of participants improved their climbing abilities, the children with CP managed to climb a larger proportion of the tested climbing route at the end of training and the TD group climbed faster. For the children with CP this was accompanied by significant improvements in the Sit-to-stand test (p <0.01), increased rate of force development in the least affected hand during an explosive pinch test and increased muscularmuscular coherence during a pinch precision test (p <0.05). We found no improvements in maximal hand or finger strength and no changes in cognitive abilities or psychological well-being in any of the groups.Conclusions: These findings show that it is possible to use climbing as means to make children with CP physically active. The improved motor abilities obtained through the training is likely reflected by increased synchronization between cortex and muscles, which results in a more efficient motor unit recruitment that may be transferred to daily functional abilities