Article

Research using a critical social science perspective is uncommon in physiotherapy
(PT) despite its potential advantages for investigating questions other
approaches cannot address. Critical approaches can be used to expose ideas and
concepts that are dominant, given, or taken-for-granted in practice in order to
reflect on how "things could be otherwise." The purpose of this paper is to use
an example of research examining the symbolic value of walking to outline the key
features of critical research and its application to PT. The study drew from
Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of practice to illuminate how socially ingrained
notions of normality and disability are reflected in rehabilitation practices and
affect parents and children with cerebral palsy. Dominant social assumptions
about the value of walking are shown to shape individual choices and contribute
to parental feelings of angst and doubt, and negative self-identities for
children. The example reveals how critical approaches to research can be used to
reveal the socio-political dimension of rehabilitation practice and address
important research questions that have been largely neglected.

Langue : ANGLAIS