ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present a summary of disability theory with reference to social work practice. They consider five models of disability, of which they advocate that three are essential for social work practice to support disabled service users. The authors discuss two medical models and three versions of the social model with reference to their theoretical origins. They suggest that the biomedical models employ an essentialist perspective to disability and impairment, whereas the social models draw on historical materialism, critical realism and post-structuralism philosophies. The authors use examples from their research to illustrate how these theoretical lenses emerge and can be applied in different situational professional spaces. They give clear direction for social work practitioners to understand different models of disability to develop a critical practice to move away from the current medicalized healthcare approach that dominates contemporary social work. The authors outline the dominant biopsychosocial approach which is employed globally within social work practice.
