ABSTRACT

People acquire professional knowledge and skills throughout university education during which their social relations network, orientation and social perceptions are also shaped. Due to the importance of university education period, the purpose of this study was to determine the social distance levels of the university students towards individuals with special needs. The study group consisted of a total of 1293 students continuing their university education in a province located in southeastern Turkey. The Bogardus Social Distance Scale was used as the data collection tool in this descriptive study. The results revealed that the participants indicated the greatest social distance towards individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism while the lowest distance was observed towards gifted individuals. It was found that most of the university students do not prefer to ‘get married’, ‘become a close kin member by marriage’ and ‘become a fellow employee (co-worker)’ with individuals with special needs. The results also revealed that students’ knowledge about special needs groups and their contact frequency with individuals with special needs are significant factors affecting their social distance. However, social distance does not differ with respect to gender of the participants.

摘要

人们在整个大学教育过程中获得专业知识和技能，在此期间，他们的社会关系网络、方向和社会认知也被塑造。由于大学教育时期的重要性，本研究的目的是确定大学生对有特殊需要的个体的社会距离水平。该研究小组由 1293 名学生组成，他们在土耳其东南部的一个省继续接受大学教育。在这项描述性研究中，Bogardus 社会距离量表被用作数据收集工具。结果显示，参与者表示与智障和自闭症个体的社交距离最大，而与有天赋的个体的距离最低。研究发现，大多数大学生不喜欢与有特殊需要的人“结婚”、“结亲”和“成为同事（同事）”。结果还表明，学生对特殊需要群体的了解以及他们与特殊需要个体的接触频率是影响他们社交距离的重要因素。然而，社会距离在参与者的性别方面没有差异。