Login (DCU Staff Only)
Login (DCU Staff Only)

DORAS | DCU Research Repository

Explore open access research and scholarly works from DCU

Advanced Search

Linking Disability and Intercultural Studies: the adaptation journey of the visually impaired migrant in Ireland

Murphy, Esther (2011) Linking Disability and Intercultural Studies: the adaptation journey of the visually impaired migrant in Ireland. PhD thesis, Dublin City University.

Abstract
This study focuses on the lived experiences of the visually impaired migrant in Ireland and this is the first study to document the lives of these members of Irish society. It examines how visually impaired migrants are simultaneously adapting to their disability and a new cultural environment while living in Ireland. In so doing this study aims to link the two academic fields of Intercultural Studies and Disability Studies and theoretical underpinnings for this study are drawn and woven together from both fields. As such this study draws from the development of theories relating to disability as well as the intercultural aspects of migration. Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 participants living in the larger Dublin region, which comprised of two groups; migrant users and providers of services for the visually impaired. Data analysis was assisted through the software package Atlas.ti. A grounded theory approach to collecting and analysing data was adopted as this facilitates the flow from raw data to codes to concepts. Purposive sampling was employed and the typical method of grounded theory of constant comparison was not used, rather interviews were analysed individually once they were all completed then compared. Research findings indicate that the cultural perceptions of disability may help or hinder the individual’s adaptation process both to their visual impairment and to living and integrating into a new culture in Ireland. Findings cluster around the three areas of cultural perceptions of disability, support networks and cultural barriers to adaptation. Synergising theoretical concepts and data steered the development of a new integrative model which identifies the inhibitors and facilitators for the process of adaptation to visual impairment for a migrant in Ireland.
Metadata
Item Type:Thesis (PhD)
Date of Award:November 2011
Refereed:No
Supervisor(s):Sheridan, Vera
Uncontrolled Keywords:interculural studies; disability studies
Subjects:Social Sciences > Migration
Social Sciences > Multiculturalism
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:16603
Deposited On:01 Dec 2011 11:02 by Vera Sheridan . Last Modified 19 Jul 2018 14:54
Documents

Full text available as:

[thumbnail of Doctoral thesis]
Preview
PDF (Doctoral thesis) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
2MB
[thumbnail of EsthermurphyPhDSept_18vol2.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
867kB
Downloads

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Archive Staff Only: edit this record