The Persistence of Low Expectations in Special Education Law Viewed Through the Lens of Therapeutic Jurisprudence

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Forthcoming

Pepperdine University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010/18

24 Pages Posted: 28 Oct 2010

See all articles by Richard Peterson

Richard Peterson

Pepperdine University - Rick J. Caruso School of Law; USC Gould School of Law

Date Written: 2010

Abstract

For more than thirty-five years a paradigm of low expectations has infected efforts to educate children with disabilities and has been a persistent and stubborn obstacle to the successful implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and its predecessor, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA). This dilemma raises questions addressed in this paper: What is meant by low expectations in the context of Special Education Law? What are the root causes of this phenomenon, and what makes it so resistant to change? How does it impede implementation of the IDEA? And lastly, in what ways does the paradigm of low expectations impact children with disabilities socially, emotionally, and psychologically? The primary purpose of this paper is to consider these questions, particularly the last, utilizing therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ), a theoretical lens through which the emotional and psychological impact of the law and its processes upon those who interact in its context may be viewed and analyzed.

Keywords: IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Act, School, Education, Children, Disability, Disabled, Special Education, Law, Education of All Handicapped Children Act, Psychology, Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Emotional, Expectations

Suggested Citation

Peterson, Richard, The Persistence of Low Expectations in Special Education Law Viewed Through the Lens of Therapeutic Jurisprudence (2010). International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Forthcoming, Pepperdine University Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2010/18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1699005

Richard Peterson (Contact Author)

Pepperdine University - Rick J. Caruso School of Law ( email )

24255 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu, CA 90263
United States

USC Gould School of Law ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

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