Why did the mass murder of disabled people in Japan go unnoticed?

On July 26, 2016, a man armed with a knife burst into the house for invalids outside Tokyo. He brutally killed 19 people while they slept and wounded another 26. After that, he himself went to the local police station and stated that it would be better if the disabled people disappeared.

Why there is no public resonance?

Many people who defend the rights of disabled people expressed concern that this incident - in fact, the first mass murder of such magnitude in Japan since the Second World War - received very little public attention, compared to the mass loss of people in Paris, Nice, Orlando, Kabul and Baghdad.

The Australian activist and rights defender of the disabled, Dropley Findley wrote: "There were no hashtags. Neither public resonance. Not even prayers. "

Journalist David Perry noted with irony that this tragedy occurred just the day before the anniversary of the adoption of the American law on disability.

This sad coincidence indicates continuing ambivalence towards people with disabilities. On the one hand, they play an increasingly prominent role in society, often serving as a source of inspiration for healthy people. And there are many signs of progress, such as the recognition of their legitimate rights and the creation of inclusive schools.

On the other hand, people with disabilities still face prejudice, social exclusion and violence.

Unfortunately, it is now easy to trace the continuity between the tragedy in Japan and the institutionalization practices that began in the US and Europe and remained the main means of managing people with disabilities for more than a hundred years. Unfortunately, this practice continues in many countries of the world.

Isolation of people who have limited opportunities

In Japan, there is a profound stigma towards those people who are not able to work. In fact, institutionalization of people with disabilities, intellectual or otherwise, that hamper their productivity is still widespread. Their differences are perceived as a shameful and frightening secret, which makes them different, less worthy people.

In truth, disability is one of the aspects of everyday life that affects all people and all families at some point in their lives. The truth is that all people experience a state of disability at some point in their life, for example, because of illness, trauma, or simply the natural process of aging.

Nevertheless, the fear of one's own vulnerability and the stigma that accompanies disability forces us to deny this simple truth. It is much easier to look at people with disabilities as a faceless population than as people who deserve respect, help, and opportunity to thrive.

How did we get there before?

A glance at the past can help us understand the attitude towards the disabled that has developed today. The history of attitudes towards people with disabilities does not show us sustainable progress towards tolerance.

James Trent, the processor of sociology and social work at Harvard, in his 1994 book "Inventing Wisdom" describes a change in attitudes toward the treatment of people with disabilities in America, beginning with the colonial era.

According to Trent, in the colonial and early Republican era, "idiots" - so people with intellectual disabilities were known at that time - were recognized as members of their local communities.

But, since the 19th century, people began to betray the increasing importance of "normality." A good citizen was one who had the opportunity to be productive and independent. A new class of professionals has appeared, whose career was devoted to the management of human health and its behavior.

By the middle of the 19th century, these changes had contributed to the definition of "dementia". It was recognized as a social problem, which should be identified and treated. Dementia became a broad category that included not only people with intellectual disabilities but also others who were found to be unproductive or immoral, such as immigrants, other races or poor people.

The view that demented and other people with disabilities must be removed from families and placed in special institutions, became increasingly popular.

The beginning of institutionalization

Early similar institutions in the United States came about thanks to the French teacher Eduardo Séguin, who was known as the "apostle for idiots." He believed that people with disabilities are fully capable of learning and development. Inspired by Ségen's successes, the first American institutions for the disabled were devoted to their education and development. They were recognized as a temporary measure taken to adapt residents to make them productive members of society.

Institutions as places of abuse

For several decades, institutions began to move to a permanent custody of the "weak-minded." It was very difficult to find work for such people even after their rehabilitation, especially during the period of economic deficit. In the early twentieth century, the movement of eugenics contributed to the formation of prejudice against people with disabilities, as it was assumed that they pose a threat to the purity of the country's pedigree.

Institutions for the disabled "solved" this problem, hiding the "objectionable" out of sight. The possibility of such people to have children through segregation, and in some cases also sterilization, was also monitored.

Thus, the mission of such institutions has shifted from education and care to social management. They became overcrowded, and people with disabilities began to be treated disparagingly and subjected to violence.

Sometimes disabled people were even used in medical experiments. Without their consent, they were exposed to agents of diseases such as hepatitis, gonorrhea, or influenza.

Changes are very difficult in many countries

By the middle of the twentieth century, the practice of institutionalization began to be criticized. It all started with a lot of journalistic investigations, as well as the movements of parents. People with disabilities were again included in the family, giving them education and jobs. Due to this, people with disabilities often live in their families, although many of the problems that emerged during the heyday of the culture of institutionalization are preserved, albeit in different forms.

For example, people with disabilities in some countries still work in closed workshops, where they are busy with boring and monotonous work and are forced to receive salaries below the minimum. They can also be isolated in special training classes, where they still have limited opportunities for work and socialization.

Thus, the practice of institutionalization, with all the accompanying problems, remains in many parts of the world. For example, not so long ago in the media there were investigations about terrible conditions and abuses in such institutions of Mexico and Romania.

The impact of institutionalization

But even in countries like Japan, where people with disabilities have already been rehabilitated, they still face prejudice, alienation and violence.

Fear, shame and misunderstanding that surround disability are preserved even after such institutions are closed.

For example, families of people who were killed in Japan decided not to give their names. Thus, it was the logic of institutionalization that compelled them to make such a decision. It is easier for these families to forget their relatives than to admit that they are disabled.

Let's treat them like people

At first glance, the massacre in Japan was committed by one insane person. But his actions were obviously influenced by a long history of institutionalization. The practice of isolating people in special institutions suggests that they are treated differently from others. Even after these institutions were closed in many countries, their former residents continue to be treated the same way.

Everyone forgets that they too are people whose life has value and meaning. Their senseless deaths are just as tragic and deserve the same media coverage as other victims of mass violence.