The representation of persons with psychosocial disabilities in young adult literature

This article elaborates the representation of persons with psychosocial disabilities in young adult literature in Hungary, using the models of disability studies for the analysis. The goal of the research is to provide an overview on how Hungarian society thinks about persons with psychosocial disabilities. The research focuses on the questions of how persons with psychosocial disabilities are represented in youth novels published on the Hungarian book market since 1989, how the models of disability studies and prejudice appear in the examined stories. Mixed methodology was employed in the analysis. This article presents the results of a qualitative research element in detail. Quantitative results show that most of the youth novels are translations and the dominant disability studies paradigm is the medical model. The qualitative research element was a case study where “The Weight of Zero”, a novel by Karen Fortunati, was analyzed as it falls into the predominant disability studies model identified in the quantitative analysis. The novel presents a personal recovery story, which, beside the medical model, presents other disability studies models as well, such as the recovery model. The emergence of stories about psychosocial disabilities in youth literature could be an important means to tackle and decrease stigmatization and social exclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities.