SOCIAL REHABILITATION

OSAKA FORUM
The 12th Rehabilitation International
Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference
October 22
Osaka, Japan

The Concept of Social Rehabilitation

Erkki Kemppainen
STAKES (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health)
Box 220, FIN-00531 HELSINKI, Finland

1. Introduction

In everyday language the term "social rehabilitation" encompasses a very broad range of meanings; that is why it is often difficult to understand.

Social rehabilitation is defined in the RI Manual on Policies and Procedures as follows:

Social rehabilitation is a process the aim of which is to attain functioning ability. This ability means the capacity of a person to function in various social situations towards the satisfaction of his or her needs and the right to achieve maximum richness in his or her participation in society.

This definition and related terms of reference, which set the definition within the perspective of the equalization of opportunities, are very modern, although many years have passed since they were first set in writing .

However, in practice it is not always clear what is meant by social rehabilitation. The ambiguity of the concept of social rehabilitation does not result from it being outdated. The ambiguity is natural. Societies are different and, consequently, the content of social rehabilitation varies. Furthermore, the concept of social rehabilitation is not used in all parts of the world. There is a good reason for this variety, because societies and cultures are really different. But it is necessary to look for the possibilities of communication. In fact, we can find some common features which should be included in all rehabilitation. And communication leads to a better understanding of rehabilitation and a better way of speaking about rehabilitation.

As a starting point we can look at how the term "social rehabilitation" is used in ordinary language about rehabilitation. Ordinary language must be the ultimate basis of the understanding of meanings. It is a challenge to the development of the terminology to maintain a sufficient link to the constantly evolving practical use of language.

On the basis of general experience about the use of language we can mention at least three meanings of "social rehabilitation". These are 1) the improving of the context of social activities, 2) the social aspect of any kind of rehabilitation, and 3) specific social rehabilitation.

2. The context of social activities

The most general justification of social rehabilitation are the universal human rights and the equalization of opportunities. Human rights highlight equality and nondiscrimination. Accessibility is an interpretation of nondiscrimination.

An accessible environment makes social functioning or social activities possible. The relevance of the environment can be seen everywhere. It is an issue of doors, thresholds, stairs, housing, transportation, communications, social networks, attitudes etc. Assistive technology is sometimes a precondition for social functioning. In these cases, an accessible environment is a necessary condition for social activities. Improving these conditions should be the objective of social rehabilitation and it is a part of rehabilitation that these circumstances are made suitable for a person as far as possible. In this general perspective we are interested in the conditions of social functioning ability, or the capacity of social activities.

3. The social aspect of rehabilitation

An issue which makes it difficult to understand social rehabilitation is that in almost all rehabilitation there is a social aspect. It is usual that family and community are involved. The aim of all rehabilitation is to find ways for people to participate in the community and in social life, for example, at home or in working life. In this sense educational, medical and vocational rehabilitation all have social aspects: it is important to take the social aspect in rehabilitation into account.

4. Specific social rehabilitation

Then there are specific methods. Social functioning ability, or the capacity of social activities, is something distinct from the environment. For the rehabilitation process it is not always sufficient that the environment is accessible, friendly, etc. Specific methods are needed to help to develop social functioning or social activities.

Eiko Okuno has described the development of the concept of social rehabilitation into the key content of social rehabilitation. Social functioning abilities is the keyword. When thinking about how to help improve a person's social functioning ability we are looking for methods, services, and programs.

5. Conclusions

These meanings are familiar from speech about rehabilitation, although confusions arise every now and then. However, there is a common understanding about the basic elements of social rehabilitation and a common language is possible. We can take the first and third meanings - the improving of the context of social activities and specific social rehabilitation - as the basic meanings of social rehabilitation, and leave the second meaning out of discussion here as a practical choice and leave it to professionals in their respective fields.

Human rights, equalization of opportunities, and accessibility enable and support social activities. It is a natural part of social rehabilitation to promote and negotiate about accessibility, to promote social networks, and to coordinate services.

However, social activities are really something distinct from the environment. For the rehabilitation process it is not always sufficient that the environment is accessible, friendly, etc. Specific methods are needed to help to develop social functioning or social activities. There is a need to promote an accessible environment in all its forms and social functioning ability, or the capacity for social action at the same time. Hence, social rehabilitation aims at the improving of both the capacity for social activities and its conditions.

In this perspective we could have two meanings for social rehabilitation: social rehabilitation as the improvement of the conditions of social activities, and specific social rehabilitation as the process of enriching a person's capacity of social activities.