Structural Ableism: Multi-level Intersectionality and Adult Well-being in the United States

• In Event: Disability in Society Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2. Disability, Health, and Healthcare

Abstract

This paper explores multiple well-being outcomes among U.S. adults in analyses of representative data from pooled years (2022-2024) of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Macro, geographically-linked, contextual measures along multiple axes of structural inequalities are developed and introduced in multi-level analyses, illustrating the feasibility of including structural ableism as socio-ecological constructs alongside more prominent contextual measures based on social inequalities by race/ethnicity, gender, and social class. Results suggest that overlooking or omitting disability and ableism measures from social inequality research likely misrepresents people’s experiences and biases collective sociological findings.

Author

• Diane S. Shinberg, Indiana University of Pennsylvania