Disability policies in Japan and Sweden

A comparative perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID23212005
AuthorsRafael Lindqvist (Uppsala University, corresponding author), Kamal Lamichhane (0000-0003-4215-0261, University of Tsukuba)
Year2019
Volume13-1
Pages1-14
Publication date2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAlter (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1875-0672 • E-ISSN: 1875-0680
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.alter.2018.08.001
OpenAlexW2894366234
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited39

The aim of this article was to compare disability policies in Japan and Sweden. Social protection in the two countries has taken different directions. Policy orientation in Japan is “productivist,” paternalistic, family-oriented, and firmly involves medical expertise in assessing eligibility to disability services. In practice, social services in Japan is the result of negotiations between social service staff at the local level, volunteer agencies and private contributors. In Sweden, social services, were established as social rights, financed by public money, and distributed by public sector agencies or out-sourced to private providers. Such support, assessed by social workers, were intended to facilitate daily life and achieve “good living conditions.” While Japan’s disability services are characterized by the medical model and improving physical accessibility, practices in Sweden are based on a social relational model perspective of disability services combined with increasing “deservingness ethics.”

Art · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Regional science · Sociology · Visual arts · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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