Towards A Model Of Disability Disclosure

The model of relational development and decline in close relationships and selfdisclosure contains six agents: relational definition, time, attributional processes, liking, reciprocity, and goals. The purpose of the model is to describe the process of relationship development between peers. This phenomenology investigated disclosures between members of a minority group to a member of a majority group in the context of work. Each agent is discussed in terms of commonalities and differences between the agent and the experience of twelve participants with invisible disabilities interviewed. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires adults to disclose information about the disability, provide requested documentation, and suggest accommodations (P.L. 101-336). The responsibility to disclose and seek accommodations rests solely on the disabled person. This type of disclosure is made for the purpose of accommodation and access to educational institutions, materials, or formal learning opportunities. Disclosure for accommodation most often occurs in formal learning situations such as training programs. Disabled people are expected by able-bodied co-workers to explain the nature and/or ramifications of their disability. Our workplaces become places of risk for disabled people when considering whether to disclose or not and how much information is appropriate (Dycke, 1999). Once disability status is disclosed, a person with invisible disabilities (could pass as an able-bodied person) becomes suspect and future interactions may be tainted (Rocco, 1997). While the disclosure experiences of people with visible disabilities are quite different (Rocco, 2001). Disclosure occurs in adult education and workplace settings by adults with and without disabilities for relationship development. Relationships between co-workers are important for informal learning to occur. Informal learning occurs in natural settings, which have the “potential for learning and in fact organize our learning” (Merriam & Caffarella, 1999, p. 396, italics in original). In contrast to selfdirected learning projects initiated by the learner, informal learning at work can be initiated or facilitated by the co-worker with the knowledge or by the employee in need of the knowledge. The way the disclosure is received, perceived, and acted on can make a difference in how the adult will approach a new learning situation at work, seek mentoring or other work relationships (Chelune, 1979). The question is how does disability disclosure between co-workers affect informal learning opportunities between coworkers that enable new employees or employees new to a department or position to learn their jobs in work groups, through mentoring, in informal non structured on the job training, or simply by interacting around a water cooler. Informal learning, non-structured on the job training, mentoring (whether formal or not), learning in organizations such as work groups, all of these forms of learning or structures to facilitate learning involve relationships between people. Relationships develop through personal disclosures, which can include information about one’s experience and knowledge gained through work or outside of work. Individuals from minority groups find themselves in the position of having to explain their experience or teach a person from a dominant cultural group. The Model of Relational Development and Decline Self-disclosure involves the verbal presentation of information to another about the nature or cause of personal experiences, dispositions, past events, and future plans (Derlega & Grzelak, 1979). Telling someone “something truly personal” implies trust that the information will be kept confidential (Derlega, Metts, Petronio, & Margulis, 1993, p. 2). Derlega et al. (1993) propose a model of relational development and decline in close relationships and self-disclosure. The model contains six agents (the foundation for the specific research questions): relational definition, time, attributional processes, liking, reciprocity, and goals. The relational definition refers to the mutually transformative power disclosure has on a relationship and a relationship has on the disclosure. The relational definition represents individual and collective thinking about the relationship and appropriate behaviors. For instance, “when people disclose in certain ways, the recipient may be expected, or be forced, to define the nature of the relationship differently” (Derlega et al. 1993, p. 15). Time assumes that relationships intensify gradually and systematically allowing message exchanges to develop from superficial to intimate. The timing of self-disclosure can affect the attitude of the recipient towards the discloser. Attributional processes explain why individuals tell something intimate. The recipient assigns dispositional, situational, and interpersonal attributions to self-disclosures. In a new casual relationship, dispositional or situational attribution simple means the recipient attributes the disclosure to the person’s openness or to the situation at the time. Interpersonal disclosures are felt to occur because the person making the disclosure wants to redefine the terms of the relationship or the individual behavior through the making the disclosure Liking assumes that self-disclosure leads to fondness and is determined by the recipient’s perception. Disclosures that violate normative expectations will not lead to liking. The discloser may share too much information because they like the recipient and disclosures that elicit a negative response will not lead to liking. Reciprocity implies the recipient will return a disclosure of the same level of intimacy generating a response “sensitive to the disclosure’s self-imposed vulnerability” and “the conversational demand to be topically relevant” (Derlega et al. 1993, p. 34). Goals include achieving a degree of catharsis, managing a positive image, gaining information, and indicating relationship definitions (Derlega et al. 1993). Self-disclosure serves different functions including expression, self-clarification, social validation, relationship development, and social control (Derlega & Grzelak, 1979). Social control is used to achieve specific results, operating for a controlling, or even exploitive purpose. Relationship development is a vehicle for promoting, maintaining, or increasing intimacy in a relationship. Social validation elicits feedback to validate a person’s self-concept. Self-clarification is talking about beliefs and opinions to clarify one’s position. Expression is verbalizing feelings about a recent facet of a relationship or situation. Data Collection and Analysis Originally, when I began research on disclosure, my interest was in the phenomenon of disclosing disability for the purposes of accommodation. This struck me as a catch-22 to require people to disclose something that can and often is used against them in hiring and promotion decisions. This interest expanded to the phenomenon of disclosing of disabled people and the purposes for and consequences of the disclosure. This phenomenology has individuals as the unit of analysis (Creswell, 2003).