Stigmatization Of Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Students Studying In Different Institutional Settings

Abstract

Deafness is a serious disabling sensory disorder that contributes to the formation of stigma – one of the main obstacles to successful mental and social adaptation of people with hearing loss. The study of various aspects of the formation of internal stigmatization in deaf and hard-of-hearing students will help them to pass the integration process in the safest way and feel part of the student society. We studied 155 deaf and hard-of-hearing students studying in different institutional settings. The most significant problems faced by deaf and hard-of-hearing students were identified, which reflect the essence of discrimination (social restrictions in employment and education, dependence on others and others). The nature and degree of stigmatization of students were influenced by the degree of hearing loss, age of onset of deafness, personality characteristics, level of mental health, type of identity - "inclusion" in the "world of hearing" or "world of the deaf", as well as learning conditions that contribute to their acculturation. Students with congenital hearing loss were less stigmatized – despite the pessimistic prognosis of their deafness, they did not limit themselves to visiting public places, and noted a friendly attitude towards them from others and family, which indicates that they got rid of the defect. Self-stigmatization was more pronounced in students studying under inclusion than in differentiated groups. Individuals with higher levels of extraversion, self-awareness, collaboration with others, a more pronounced sense of self-worth, a developed capacity for empathy, and higher rates of mental health were less likely to be stigmatizated.

Keywords: Acculturationcopingdeafstigmatization

Introduction

Most studies of social integration of deaf and hard-of-hearing students show that the experience of interaction with hearing peers can be positive and depends on the level of their social and communicative competence, emotional stability and inclusion in the social life of an educational institution. Ideally, inclusion would teach the deaf students to function effectively in both hearing and deaf societies. However, this is not always the case. Despite all modern technical capabilities and medical technologies (subtitles, Smartphone, hearing AIDS, cochlear implants), the deaf still have limitations in communication and access to communication in a group (not everyone hears what he is told), and the development of oral and written speech skills also does not correspond to age. There are also difficulties in social relations with hearing peers, since they are poorly aware of their problems related to deafness (Antia & Stinson, 1999; Bat-Chava & Deignan, 2001; Eriks-Brophy, et al, 2007; Musselman et al., 1996; Preisler et al., 2005; Stinson & Whitmire, 1996). All this negatively affects their self-esteem, status in the peer group, academic achievements, and contributes to the stigma that prevents the successful integration and adaptation of the deaf in an educational institution (Kersting, 1997).

The dramatic increase in the number of deaf students with cochlear implants (CI) over the past 15 years also indicates the importance of studying their educational and psychosocial adaptation. Despite the lack of external differences with hearing peers, deaf students are more likely to feel lonely or intimidated by their classmates (Kent, 2003; Leigh et al., 2009). Almost all implanted young people express a desire to continue contacting the deaf peers in addition to communicating with hearing peers, because this gives them a greater sense of security (Christiansen, Leigh, 2005). This confirms that technologies do not always "solve everything" and cochlear implants are only an auxiliary tool, and not the main factor affecting their psychosocial functioning, contrary to what was believed ten years ago. How parents and the educational system respond to the psychological needs of these young people matters more than whether or not they have implants. The goals of the vocational education system should be to create good communication conditions accessible to every deaf or hard-of-hearing student, as well as to optimize the learning process, which would provide reliable, comprehensive and differentiated conditions for their development and activities.

Problem Statement

Despite social discrimination, which has a psychologically harmful effect, the above-mentioned researchers did not find a significant effect on the type of school. However, their research has shown that the ideal school environment is one that allows the deaf students to develop the bicultural skills needed in a hearing society, and at the same time, allows them to identify with the deaf community. This means that a school where the deaf students are among the similar others, but at the same time interact with hearing peers, would be ideal for developing their self-esteem and would contribute to destigmatization. Crocker and Major (1989) found a factor that can mitigate the impact of inclusive learning on their self-esteem and psychological well-being - which us the membership in a minority group (the deaf community). In discussing the self-protective characteristics of stigma, they argue that membership in a minority group protects their self-esteem not only from overt prejudice or discrimination, but also from everyday failures, flops and rejections, allows them to ignore the opinions of "outsiders" as insignificant and take into account only the positive assessments of significant persons in their own environment. Maintaining a connection with the world of the deaf people for emotional and social support is considered by them as a specific psychological resource.

However, the role of personality factors and coping in the developing of self-stigmatization of the deaf people has not been previously considered. Although deaf young people need a sense of belonging to a group of similar people, they should still strive to function in the world of hearing people. Otherwise, they will not be able to achieve a good quality of life and make a significant contribution to society as a whole.

Research Questions

1. A more pronounced auditory defect increases the risk of self-stigmatization in deaf students, especially in inclusion settings.

2. The severity of self-stigmatization is associated with greater hearing loss, "deaf" acculturation, low self-esteem, poorer personal resources and mental health, and less constructive coping.

3. On the severity of the deaf-stigmatization affects the age of onset of deafness– the later is loss, the more difficult adaptation and stronger "stigmatization" attitudes are.

Purpose of the Study

1. To identify the most vulnerable, significant areas of life where deaf students are stigmatized.

2. To evaluate the impact of factors related to deafness (age and degree of hearing loss, type of learning - inclusion/differentiation) on the degree of self-stigmatization in students with hearing impairment.

3. To find out who is more likely to self-stigmatize? What personality characteristics, degree of mental health, type of acculturation and coping are characteristics of those deaf students who demonstrate "stigmatization" attitudes (or giving "stigmatizing responses").

Research Methods

Participants: The study involved 155 deaf and hard-of-hearing students (84 male and 71 female) aged from 18 to 48 years - 28 students of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (St. Petersburg), as well as 103 students of the Kazan National Research Technical University named after A. N. Tupolev, 24 students of the Kazan Aviation Technical College named after P. V. Dementieva.

In Kazan, the training was conducted in differentiated groups with sign language translation and in Saint Petersburg-inclusive groups where the deaf and hard-of-hearing were trained among their hearing peers. 41 respondents (26.4%) were aged 17–20 years, 91 respondents (58.7%) - aged 21–25 years, 23 (14.8%) - aged 26 years and older. 26 respondents (16.7%) rated their hearing loss (without hearing aids) as moderate, 73 (47.1%) as severe, and another 56 (36.1%) as deep. 52 respondents (33.7%) were born deaf, 72 (46.7%) - lost their hearing before the speech period - before 1 year, 30 (19, 4%) – later.

Measures:

Modified questionnaire “Self-assessment and coping strategies” (Jambor & Elliott, 2005);

Scale of self-esteem (Rosenberg et al., 1995);

“BigFive” (McCrae & Costa, 1997);

Trier Personality Questionnaire - TRF (Becker, 1989);

Ways of Coping Questionnaire -WCQ (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988);

Modification of the self-stigma scale (Mikhailov, 2008).

Assessment of the type of self-identification was carried out using the “World of the Deaf” and “World of the Hearing” scales (Jambor & Elliott, 2005).

Comparisons between groups were made depending on the degree of hearing loss, time of onset of deafness, learning conditions (inclusion or differentiation), as well as depending on the answers to the main questions indicating "stigmatizing" attitudes and experiences of the deaf. For this purpose, we used primary statistics (Cross-Tabs, Pearson χ2, T-test, single-factor analysis of variance).

Findings

Conclusion

The tools we used proved to be quite effective in identifying the most sensitive aspects of the life of deaf people in which stigma is formed. It allowed us to test the initial hypotheses that the nature and degree of stigmatization depends on the degree of deafness, age of hearing loss, personality and mental health characteristics, and the type of acculturation.

The obtained results allow us to conclude that" stigmatization " attitudes are mainly characteristic of deaf and hard-of-hearing students with poorly formed personal qualities, such as self-awareness/organization, cooperation with others, self-acceptance, and the ability to empathy/love. They also had more pronounced introversion, poorer personal resources, and mental health.

Our study of self-stigmatization also showed that learning in the context of inclusion is a more serious challenge for the deaf students, and this naturally affects their assessment of themselves and their social environment, from their point of view, more negatively disposed towards them. It is obvious that in the future, the positive effect of integrated learning will depend on the support of centres that provide both psychological support and the necessary level of adaptation of deaf students in an educational institution, and optimize their integration into the majority society after graduation.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research № 19-013-00406.

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