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Article Excerpt
Abstract
Students with disabilities (SWDs) are more at risk for being socially rejected and feeling isolated within the school environment. Student alienation has led to dropping out, increased gang activity, poor peer relationships, poor school-student relationships, and poor teacher-student relationships. The focus of the current analysis was to examine the relationship between SWDs and their perceptions of school life. Results indicated that SWDs perceive school life as more alienating than their peers without disabilities. The limitations of the study are discussed.
Alienation
Sometime in a student's early years in school he or she develops an attitude about school and education in general (Travis, 1995). For some, this attitude may be positive and inclusionary in nature, while for others this attitude may be one of estrangement or isolation. If the latter attitude is adopted by the student, the result could be increased gang membership (Calabrese & Noboa, 1995; Shoho, 1996), destructive behaviors (Ascher, 1982; Staples, 2000), and/or dropping out of school (Davison Aviles, Guerrero, Howarth, & Thomas, 1999). Alienation may be viewed as a result of pervasive social forces beyond school, such as specialization, mobility, bureaucratization, capitalism, or other features of the modern world that fragment human experience (Newmann, 1981). This perception does not, however, excuse school improvement and does not justify abandoning the effort to create less alienating schools. So long as there is a possibility to improve school life for all students, schools, and educators have a moral obligation to do so (Newmann, 1981). In order to create less alienating schools, educators, administrators, and parents must identify the characteristics (e.g., unfair practices, policies, procedures, treatment of students by teachers and other school personnel) within schools and within the students most at risk (e.g., students with disabilities, male students) that exacerbate the feelings of alienation experienced by these students.
There is, however, little research available concerning students with disabilities and alienation. Based upon what is there, it is evident that students with disabilities are at greater risk of becoming socially rejected and alienated within the school setting (Vaughn, 1985). These students not only experience frustration, lower self-concepts, and loneliness (Lovitt, 1987), but are also more alienated than their general education peers (Silverman, Lucas, & Gear, 1970). Research shows that they experience greater total alienation as well as higher levels of alienation in specific domains (e.g., normlessness, isolation, powerlessness). The culmination of these negative experiences for students with disabilities is that they are highly likely to drop out of school (Finn, 1989; Seidel & Vaughn, 1991).
Students with Disabilities
Over the years, students with disabilities have been recognized as having social deficits and being in need of social skills training (Margalit, 1991), yet little research is available that focuses on the feelings of the students concerning their social situation and sense of alienation. A review of the literature revealed four studies that have collected data concerning students with disabilities and alienation. The first study investigated the feelings of loneliness (social isolation) in students with learning disabilities (LDs) in self-contained classes (Margalit, 1991). The second study investigated the differences in the degrees of alienation experienced by students in special education and students in general education classrooms (Silverman et al., 1970). Another study by Vaughn and Elbaum (1996) investigated social loneliness and alienation in SWDs in inclusive classrooms over time. The final study by Shoho and Katims (1997) investigated the alienation perception differences found among high school students with disabilities. SWDs did not fare well in either of the studies.
Margalit (1991) sampled 76 students from seven self-contained classes of students with learning disabilities in order to ascertain the feelings of loneliness in students with LDs in self-contained classrooms. Four questionnaires were individually administered to teachers and students in their schools [e.g., 10-item Aggressive Behavior Scale (Margalit, 1985); 34-item Social Skills rating Scale (Margalit, 1992); The Loneliness...
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