Professional (Re)Integration of Persons with Disabilities: Perceptions of the Contract Employment Insertion/Contract Employment Insertion+ Measures by Beneficiaries and Promoters

Authors

  • Neuza Cardoso Borges Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudos de Género, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2263-2434
  • Paula Campos Pinto Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudos de Género, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4040-1688

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.3532

Keywords:

persons with disabilities, public policy, professional (re)integration, CEI/CEI measures

Abstract

The Portuguese State recognises the right of persons with disabilities to employment on equal terms with non-disabled persons. Nonetheless, many employers still resist the idea of hiring someone with a disability. For this reason, the action of the State is determinant to change attitudes towards disability and promote the hiring of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. These actions are materialised through public policies. This article reports the results of an exploratory and qualitative study on the measures known as contract employment insertion/contract employment insertion+ (CEI/CEI+), implemented in the region of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley. It examined the perception of three stakeholders — 16 male and female beneficiaries with disabilities, nine institutions promoting these measures, and seven non-profit organisations devoted to training and employment of persons with disabilities — to know their perspectives on the potentialities and limitations of these measures. The results reveal that the CEI/CEI+ measures only provide a temporary remedy to the problem of unemployment among persons with disabilities, which hinders their access to a socioeconomically independent life that is sustainable. Nonetheless, respondents do not deny the importance of these measures, viewing them as an excellent opportunity to showcase their professional skills and reinforce their self-esteem and self-worth. The data obtained in this study are discussed according to various models approaching disability. In the end, we formulate a few recommendations to maximise the effects of these measures.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Neuza Cardoso Borges, Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudos de Género, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Neuza Borges holds an undergraduate degree in public administration and a master’s degree in management and public policies from the Institute of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon. The topic of her master’s dissertation was the professional (re)integration of persons with disabilities: perceptions of the CEI and CEI+ measures by beneficiaries and promoters. A synthesis with the main findings of this study was published in the section on work and employment in the Pessoas com Deficiência em Portugal - Indicadores de Direitos Humanos 2019 (Persons With Disabilities in Portugal – Human Rights Indicators 2019), issued by the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights of Institute of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon.

Paula Campos Pinto, Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudos de Género, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

Paula Campos Pinto holds a PhD in sociology from York University (Toronto, Canada). She is an associate professor in the Institute for Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon. She founded and still coordinates the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights, a body that brings together researchers and civil society disability organisations to promote participatory processes of disability rights monitoring in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries. She has coordinated and participated in several research projects of national and international scope, addressing topics related to the analysis and assessment of public policy and the human rights of persons with disabilities, including from a gender perspective. She has authored many national and international publications on disability, human rights, public policies and gender equality.

References

Andrade, A., Silva, I., & Veloso, A. (2017). Integração profissional de pessoas com deficiência visual: Das práticas organizacionais às atitudes individuais. Revista Psicologia: Organizações e Trabalho, 17(2), 80–88. https://doi.org/10.17652/rpot/2017.2.12687

Associação Portuguesa de Deficientes. (2012). O emprego e as pessoas com deficiência. Instituto Nacional para a Reabilitação.

Convenção dos Direitos das Pessoas com Deficiência, 13 de dezembro, 2006, https://www.inr.pt/resultados-de-pesquisa/-/journal_content/56/11309/44797?p_p_auth=jZgndlTI

Decreto-Lei n.º 290/2009. Diário da República n.º 197/2009 — I Série (2009). https://data.dre.pt/eli/dec-lei/290/2009/p/cons/20150617/pt/html

“‘É urgente pôr fim à exploração dos desempregados’, afirma CGTP”. (2014, 1 de dezembro). Esquerda. https://www.esquerda.net/artigo/e-urgente-por-fim-exploracao-dos-desempregados-afirma-cgtp/35005

Fernandes, C. (2007). Empregabilidade e diversidade no mercado de trabalho — A inserção profissional de pessoas com deficiência. Cadernos Sociedade e Trabalho (8), 101–113.

Fontes, F. (2009). Pessoas com deficiência e políticas sociais em Portugal: Da caridade à cidadania social. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 86, 73–93. https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.233

Martins, B., Fontes, F., Hespanha, P., & Berg, A. (2012). A emancipação dos estudos da deficiência. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 98, 45–64.

Organização das Nações Unidas. (1995). Normas sobre a igualdade de oportunidades para pessoas com deficiência. Secretariado Nacional para a Reabilitação e Integração das Pessoas com Deficiência.

Pinto, P. (2012). Dilemas da diversidade: Interrogar a deficiência, o género e o papel das políticas públicas em portugal. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.

Pinto, P. (2015). Modelos de abordagem à deficiência: Que implicações para as políticas públicas? Ciências e Políticas Públicas, 1(1), 174–200.

Portaria n.º 128/2009, Diário da República n.º 21/2009, Série I de 2009-01-30 (2009). https://data.dre.pt/eli/port/128/2009/1/30/p/dre/pt/html

Portaria n.º 34/2017, Diário da República n.º 13/2017, Série I de 2017-01-18 (2017). https://data.dre.pt/eli/port/34/2017/p/cons/20200827/pt/html

Sequeira, A., Maroco, J., & Rodrigues, C. (2006). Emprego e inserção social das pessoas com deficiência na sociedade do conhecimento: Contributo ao estudo da inserção social das pessoas com deficiência em Portugal. Revista Europeia de Inserção Social, 1(1), 3–28. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/1856

Shakespeare, T., & Watson, N. (2002). The social model of disability: An outdated ideology? Research in Social Science and Disability, 2, 9–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3547(01)80018-X

Simonelli, A., & Camarotto, J. (2011). Activity analysis for inclusion of disability people at work: A proposition model. Gestão & Produção, 18(1), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0104-530X2011000100002

Sousa, J. (2007). Deficiência, cidadania e qualidade social: Por uma política de inclusão das pessoas com deficiências e incapacidades. Cadernos Sociedade e Trabalho, (8), 38–56.

Vieira, C., Vieira, P., & Francischetti, I. (2015). Professionalization of disabled people: Reflections and possible contributions from psychology. Revista Psicologia: Organizações e Trabalho, 15(4), 352–361. https://doi.org/10.17652/rpot/2015.4.612

Published

2021-12-22

How to Cite

Borges, N. C., & Pinto, P. C. (2021). Professional (Re)Integration of Persons with Disabilities: Perceptions of the Contract Employment Insertion/Contract Employment Insertion+ Measures by Beneficiaries and Promoters. Lusophone Journal of Cultural Studies, 8(2), 139–155. https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.3532