The effect of Bourdieuian Habitus on perception of Deafness

This study investigated the hypothesis ‘Habitus (quantified by experience of Deafness) of hearing people will influence a more negative perception of Deafness than that of Deaf people’. Bourdieuian Habitus is the notion of, for example, an individual, as comprised of a structured and structuring structure: structured in that it is formed of the individual’s past and present condition; and structuring in that it will influence the individual’s present and future condition (Grenfell, 2014: 49). This structure will, in turn, form a dispositional system influencing perception; for example, of deafness (Grenfell, 2014: 49). Data was collected using a web-based model; specifically, an online survey distributed using social media. To quantify the hypothesis, a selection box response was used to elicit each participant’s audiological status and community identity; a text- box response to elicit participant’s experience of Deafness, and a Likert Scale to elicit participant’s perception of Deafness. To analyse the data collected by the Likert Scale, the hearing sample, and the d/Deaf sample, were identified. Using the Likert Scale, perception of Deafness was quantified by model: negative perception by the medical model; and positive perception by the culturo-linguistic model (Ladd, 2003: 164). The medical model of Deafness is “the notion that each born Deaf person is a helpless, isolated, hearing-impaired individual with no intrinsic relationship with any other Deaf person, past or present”. The notion of hearing impairment is based on the idea of deafness as “an absence of, or damage, to a physical faculty”; that is, the idea of hearing loss, rather than deaf gain (Ladd, 2003: 15). In the Likert Scale, the medical model of Deafness was represented by the statement ‘I believe that deafness is a disability’. In contrast, the culturo-linguistic model of Deafness, as proposed by Ladd (2003: 164) is based on the idea of deaf gain. Within the culturo-linguistic model, d/Deaf people are perceived as “whole”; in contrast with the idea of hearing loss within the medical model. The perception of d/Deaf people as ‘whole’ is based on their social, cultural and artistic identity. In the Likert Scale, the culturo-linguistic model of Deafness was represented by the statement, ‘I am aware of the concept of Deaf culture’. To some extent, this study provided support for the hypothesis: the Deaf sample did demonstrate a more positive perception of d/Deafness than that of the hearing sample. However, the hearing sample did not demonstrate a binary positive, nor negative, perception of d/Deafness: that is, the relationship between Habitus and perception of d/Deafness did not appear to be absolute. In conclusion, therefore, the correlation between Habitus and perception of d/Deafness was weak. However, there did appear to be some correlation between British Sign Language studentship and perception of Deafness. This provided a small insight into a complex, yet heavily under-researched phenomenon, and may influence further research into the perception of Deafness. Grenfell, M. (2014) Pierre Bourdieu: Key Concepts. 2nd ed. [Internet] Ladd, P. (2003) Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search of Deafhood. [Internet] Clevedon, Multilingual Matters.