An Archi-texture of Learning Disability Services: The use of Michel Foucault

Abstract

The work of Michel Foucault has been widely used in the social sciences to explore relationships of power and knowledge. This paper utilises Foucault's methods in an initial formation of discourse in the problem of care of people with learning disabilities in the twentieth century, and focuses on the problematisation of people with learning disabilities and their care needs. Little has been published regarding the contingencies of past and current practices in any form of systematic way within learning disability services. Neither has literature on disablism been utilised to support these contingencies. In order to establish a basis for the establishment of this discussion, the work and methodologies of Foucault have been utilised to develop ideas and a textual framework, and links are made with disablist literature. This paper is split into two halves; first classification and support structures, and secondly an architexture of learning disability services.