Staff attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities in Japan and the United States.
Staff age and education—not country—predict how much they support community inclusion of adults with ID.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave the same attitude survey to 223 staff in Japan and 245 staff in the United States.
Everyone worked with adults who have intellectual disabilities.
The survey asked how much staff agree with statements like "People with ID should live in group homes" and "They can hold real jobs."
Age, years of education, and country were recorded for each worker.
What they found
At first glance, Japanese staff scored lower on support for community inclusion.
After the statisticians held age and education constant, the country gap vanished.
Older staff and staff with less education showed less supportive views in both nations.
How this fits with other research
McConkey et al. (2010) asked 245 staff to rank tasks. Care duties beat social-inclusion duties in every setting.
That result extends this paper: lower education staff not only score lower on attitude scales, they also put inclusion last on their to-do list.
Bowen et al. (2012) found UK mental-health staff feel more positive when they already serve adults with ID.
Together the three surveys show the same pattern: familiarity and education shape attitude more than nationality.
Why it matters
Before you label a coworker "resistant," check age and education, not passport.
Offer extra training to older aides and those who left school early; their scores can rise.
Pair new staff with mentors who already value inclusion; repeated exposure works across cultures.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a 10-minute module on community inclusion to your next staff in-service and invite the oldest aides first.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Staff attitudes may affect choices available to persons with intellectual disabilities (ID). This study examined attitudes towards people with ID among staff working with people with ID in Japan and the United States. METHOD: Attitudes of staff working with people with ID in Japan and the United States were compared using the Community Living Attitudes Scale, Intellectual Disabilities Form. Responses were examined via multivariate analysis of variance. RESULTS: In unadjusted analyses, Japanese staff exhibited a greater tendency towards Sheltering and Exclusion of people with ID and lower endorsement of Empowerment and Similarity of people with ID. After controlling for covariates, the country effect was no longer significant for Sheltering and Exclusion. Age and education were significantly associated with attitudes in the adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: While attitudes in Japan appeared less supportive of community inclusion of people with ID, some of the differences between countries were attributable to other staff characteristics such as age and education. Findings provide new information about how attitudes of staff in each country compare with each other.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12179