Factors Affecting Social Adjustment of The Persons with Disabilities in Rural Punjab

Abstract

Persons with disabilities are the marginalized persons in the community and facing different community related issues in Punjab province of Pakistan. In Pakistan, living standard of rural community is meager and there is strong association between disability and poverty. A quantitative study was conducted on disabled persons living in rural areas of Punjab. A proportionate sample of 400 respondents was collected from three main districts of Punjab i.e., Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi from November 2016 to June 2017. Level of social adjustment was measured by using a compound variable consisting of statements related to daily activities of these persons. Univariate and bivariate testing were used for data analysis. In this study, majority of the respondents thought that emotional support by non-disabled persons, family support for daily activities, community support for social wellbeing and health structure support to be a productive part of society were important factors of social adjustment for disabled persons living in rural community. Regarding socio-economic background as a whole, it was observed that majorities of the respondents were male by gender from lower class with secondary and higher secondary school education but dependent on others to fulfil their financial requirements. Regarding overall social adjustment, majority of disabled persons stated to have low level of social adjustment even with provision of both more and less health structure support, greater community support, more and less family support and greater emotional support. On the contrary, few respondents were enjoying high level of social adjustment. To provide education and increased level of awareness regarding needs of disabled persons is recommended for the non-disabled persons of the community. Disabled persons should be provided with trainings and some professional skills to live an independent life in the community. Government should implement international anti-discriminatory law to protect the rights of disabled persons.