Parental habitus in promoting self-determination of children with/without intellectual and developmental disabilities in Türkiye.
A family’s zip code and wallet size in Türkiye shape how much self-determination parents believe their child can show.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Meral et al. (2022) asked parents across Türkiye how much self-determination their children show.
They compared families from richer and poorer regions, with and without intellectual or developmental disabilities.
The team used surveys and statistics to see if place, money, and disability status change parent answers.
What they found
Parents in wealthier coastal cities reported higher child self-determination than parents in poorer rural areas.
The gap stayed even when the child did not have a disability, so culture and money matter for every family.
Having a disability lowered the scores, but SES and region still shaped the numbers more than the label.
How this fits with other research
Chang et al. (2014) also found family support predicts self-determined acts in preschoolers with cerebral palsy.
Their focus was direct help for autonomy, while Fatih shows the hidden weight of social class and geography.
Mathur et al. (2025) count unmet social needs like food insecurity in autistic toddlers and find similar city-versus-country splits.
Together the three papers say: where and how a family lives can limit or lift child agency as much as any therapy.
Why it matters
If you write self-determination goals, first map the family’s real-world resources. Ask what choices are actually available at home, school, and community. Add goals that build parent leverage inside their own culture, not just client skills. This stance keeps your program relevant and fair.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add one question about local transport, money, or community access before you write the next choice-making goal.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Enhancing the self-determination of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is a prominent factor in their daily, community, school, or post-school outcomes. Parental practices play a crucial role in promoting self-determination of children with IDD. Families worldwide engage in parenting practices determined by each family's beliefs and values filtered through cultural experiences related to the place of origin, social structure, and living area. AIMS: This study investigated the impact of parental habitus as structured within social and cultural capital on family ratings of child self-determination in two distinct regions of Turkey (Türkiye). Our assumption is that the gap in terms of social, economic, and cultural capital between different districts of the same country affects parental habitus in fostering their children's self-determination. METHOD: Researchers collected information from 232 family members regarding the degree of their children's self-determination in two different geographic areas of Türkiye. We used the American Institutes for Research (AIR) Self-Determination Scale - Parent Form (AIR-SDS-PF questionnaire and a socio-demographic form to collect data. We employed the univariate analysis (two-way ANOVA) to identify the main and interactional effect among variables. RESULTS: Parental habitus depending on where families live, socioeconomic level, and child's disability status was influential in promoting self-determination for their children with IDD and counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Regional or micro-cultural differences impacting parental dispositions should be considered in developing or planning self-determination interventions for children with/without IDD in the same country.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2022.104347