Disability, Identity and Impact of Impairments on The Survivors of Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs)

Abstract

This paper examines the direct and vicarious impact of impairments on the lives of survivors of road traffic injuries (RTIs) and their families. Although the focus of analysis is at individual and household levels, in discussion it relates to social structures. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews and participant observation among survivors, caregivers and community leaders, this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of disability and to critique ideas linked to lay aetiologies of RTIs, such as fate and individual irresponsibility. Before injury, survivors were living without disability and actively participating in their social world. The paper shows that after injury, survivors social and economic lives were altered, as they coped with changes in bodily functions, and physical capability, and in consequence, as they faced limited opportunities to engage in the social world. It investigates how types of disability affect people in different ways, in an effort to understand the links between their varied experiences, age, gender and ethnicity.