Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Legal consciousness and legal empowerment in low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities attending the ‘TIGER’ parent advocacy program

Poppius, Vilhelmina LU (2017) RÄSM02 20171
Department of Sociology of Law
Abstract
It is important to examine parent advocacy programs to understand how they function in a society where there are many structural obstacles to those with little power. These programs can provide an impactful way to level out power imbalances.

This case study examined through a lens of legal consciousness theory, power and empowerment theory, and the four capitals as developed by Bourdieu, the purposes and consequences of low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities participating in the LA-based Learning Rights Law Center’s TIGER parent advocacy program.

The study specifically addressed how low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities are empowered through their participation in the TIGER legal advocacy program,... (More)
It is important to examine parent advocacy programs to understand how they function in a society where there are many structural obstacles to those with little power. These programs can provide an impactful way to level out power imbalances.

This case study examined through a lens of legal consciousness theory, power and empowerment theory, and the four capitals as developed by Bourdieu, the purposes and consequences of low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities participating in the LA-based Learning Rights Law Center’s TIGER parent advocacy program.

The study specifically addressed how low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities are empowered through their participation in the TIGER legal advocacy program, and what examining the legal consciousness of TIGER parents can tell us about their empowerment.

Semi-structured interviews with parents and TIGER staff, document analysis, and further observations, enabled in-depth analyses of the parents’ attitudes and views about special education law, the special education system, and the TIGER program.

This study suggests that parents who attend the TIGER program go through a specific experiential process changing their legal consciousness and triggering a parallel empowerment process. Further, the study suggests a model for combining legal consciousness and legal empowerment theoretically and develops indicators to detect this. It also confirms that longer term advocacy programs benefit parents who can subsequently achieve outcomes for their children. The study also suggests that although the TIGER program can build a bridge between the law in action and the law in books through effective parent advocacy, it cannot change the hegemony of the law. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Poppius, Vilhelmina LU
supervisor
organization
course
RÄSM02 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
legal consciousness, empowerment, legal empowerment, parent empowerment, power, economic capital, cultural capital, social capital, symbolic capital, parent advocacy, minority low-income parents, children with disabilities, legal non-profits, special education law in California, IDEA, hegemony of the law
language
English
id
8927789
date added to LUP
2017-12-19 13:20:54
date last changed
2017-12-19 13:20:54
@misc{8927789,
  abstract     = {{It is important to examine parent advocacy programs to understand how they function in a society where there are many structural obstacles to those with little power. These programs can provide an impactful way to level out power imbalances. 

This case study examined through a lens of legal consciousness theory, power and empowerment theory, and the four capitals as developed by Bourdieu, the purposes and consequences of low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities participating in the LA-based Learning Rights Law Center’s TIGER parent advocacy program. 

The study specifically addressed how low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities are empowered through their participation in the TIGER legal advocacy program, and what examining the legal consciousness of TIGER parents can tell us about their empowerment. 

Semi-structured interviews with parents and TIGER staff, document analysis, and further observations, enabled in-depth analyses of the parents’ attitudes and views about special education law, the special education system, and the TIGER program.

This study suggests that parents who attend the TIGER program go through a specific experiential process changing their legal consciousness and triggering a parallel empowerment process. Further, the study suggests a model for combining legal consciousness and legal empowerment theoretically and develops indicators to detect this. It also confirms that longer term advocacy programs benefit parents who can subsequently achieve outcomes for their children. The study also suggests that although the TIGER program can build a bridge between the law in action and the law in books through effective parent advocacy, it cannot change the hegemony of the law.}},
  author       = {{Poppius, Vilhelmina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Legal consciousness and legal empowerment in low-income Latina parents of children with disabilities attending the ‘TIGER’ parent advocacy program}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}