Sistemi skrbi in izobraževanja otrok s senzornimi ovirami v prvi in drugi jugoslovanski državi

Project website

Šifra projekta: J6-50189 (C)

SICRIS

The research project focuses on the history of care and education for children with sensory impairments—emphasizing children with hearing and vision impairments—in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. From the perspective of disability studies, the project addresses the issue interdisciplinarily. It covers the entire area of the former socialist Yugoslavia and examines the systems of care and education for children with sensory impairments from historical, sociological, and anthropological perspectives.

The research project focuses on two historical periods: a) the period from the end of World War I, when the common Yugoslav state was formed after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, establishing a continuous system of care and education for children with sensory impairments (1919-1940); b) the period of socialist Yugoslavia, during which care for children with sensory impairments was carried out in the context of modernizing state social care and special education for children with impairments (1945-1991).

In both historical periods, the social care and education systems for children with sensory impairments utilized two key concepts: spatial and social segregation of children (in asylums, infirmaries, and later in special institutions) and the concept of integration (gradual awareness of the importance of social inclusion in social care and education). These ideological systems often transitioned into one another and represented the forerunners of today’s concept of human rights for people with disabilities, based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Slovenia signed and ratified in 2008. This convention is characterized by a shift towards the concept of independent living, inclusive education, and individualized support for ordinary life, together with personal assistance.

The purpose of the project is to conduct a comparative historical-sociological-anthropological analysis of the concepts, perceptions, and treatment of children with sensory impairments within social care and education in various parts of the former Yugoslavia during two historical periods: 1919-1940 and 1945-1991, i.e., periods when different social, political, and economic systems alternated in Yugoslavia. We are also interested in how the various social care and educational systems were justified within the common state.

The research team from Slovenia collaborates on the project with researchers from other parts of the former Yugoslavia and a researcher from Iceland. The obtained results will be compared with the so-called “Scandinavian model” of social care and education for children with impairments, which was also considered desirable in socialist Yugoslavia but did not actually influence concrete changes in the treatment of people with impairments.

Essential content blocks of the research work in the project: