How Does Pain Fit into the Social Model of Disability?

The Social Model of Disability, though its conception varies across theorists, claims that people are disabled not only by impairment and difference, but also, by the barriers constructed by society. However, theorists such as Elizabeth Barnes and Susan Wendell believe pain poses a special problem for social theorists. Insofar as pain, even with the absence of social barriers, detracts from an individual's quality of life, Social Model theorists are left to evaluate: is it possible to fit pain into the Social Model of Disability? And, if so, would it be a worthwhile pursuit? In this paper, I first describe how the Social Model departs from the previously accepted medical model of disability. I then explore several critiques of the Social Model that show how it fails to incorporate the experience of chronic pain sufficiently. I present three strategies with which the Social Model responds to those critiques: breaking away from a literal interpretation of the model, distinguishing chronic pain from other forms of disability, and considering how the experience of pain might be alleviated through the removal of societal barriers. Lastly, I investigate the usefulness of the Social Model for conceptualizing pain by applying it to the controversial case of assisted suicide. I conclude that the Social Model of Disability is a useful tool for theorizing chronic pain because it offers important objections to the idea that assisted suicide offers autonomy and choice to a chronic pain experiencer.