The psychosocial adjustment of the paraplegic : a study of reference groups

Abstract

This is an exploratory study to enquire into the psychosocial factors which affect the adjustment of the paraplegic. It is an individual thesis written as part of a group investigation on Paraplegia. The study was carried out by five students of the Maritime School of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work. The twenty-three subjects of the study were paraplegics registered at the Canadian Paraplegic Association, Atlantic Division, in September 1968. Only those who were over sixteen years of age at the time of disability, had been disabled for two years or more, and were residents of the Halifax-Dartmouth and County areas were considered. A questionnaire was administered by personal interview to obtain information pertinent to the five individual studies. This particular study dealt with reference groups. It was found that paraplegics use as a criterion of comparison socio-economic and general health factors rather than the use of the legs. A majority of paraplegics had a positive image of their own membership group as compared to specific reference groups, and there was the expected relationship between a good adjustment and a positive self-image.