Every few months there's a shocking news story about the sustained, and often fatal, abuse of a disabled person. It's easy to write off such cases as bullying that got out of hand, terrible criminal anomalies or regrettable failures of the care system, but in fact they point to a more uncomfortable and fundamental truth about how our society treats its most unequal citizens. In Scapegoat, Katharine Quarmby looks behind the headlines to question and understand our discomfort with disabled people. Combining fascinating examples from history with tenacious investigation and powerful first person interviews, Scapegoat will change the way we think about disability - and about the changes we must make as a society to ensure that disabled people are seen as equal citizens, worthy of respect, not targets for taunting, torture and attack.
Author(s): Katharine Quarmby
Publisher: Portobello Books Ltd
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 288
Title Page
Dedication
Introduction
1 The Scapegoating of Kevin Davies
2 The Greek and Roman Legacy
3 Sin, Disability and Witch-Hunting
4 The Industrial Revolution, Asylums and Freak Shows
5 No Better than Poison: the Eugenics Movement and the Holocaust
6 Scandalous Institutions
7 Brave New World?
8 The Terroring of Raymond Atherton: Freedom’s Betrayal
9 Steven Hoskin and the Case of the Invisible Crime
10 Brent Martin and the Tipping Point that Never Was
11 The Humiliation of Christine Lakinski: Women and Children First
12 The Hounding of Fiona Pilkington: the Hidden Victims of Hate Crime
13 Multi-Agency Chaos: Michael Gilbert and the Failure of Safeguarding
14 Mate Crime: the Importance of Friendship
15 Motivations
16 Locations
17 Leading the World?
18 Not Them But Us: Society’s Challenge
19 Ways Forward
20 Conclusion
Appendix: Best Practice
Acknowledgements
Recommended Reading
References
Index
Copyright
