A Case Study Research of Power Relations within Policy Implementation for the Intellectually Disabled in Greece: Focusing on the Training Centers (2008-2013)

Abstract: Greece in a period of financial crisis (2008-2013) is questioning the success of its policy implementation. The training centers for the intellectually disabled, as implementers of policies and programs on a national and European level, also question that success. Using Foucault’s concept of power relations within society, it is aimed to find whether policies and programmes for the intellectually disabled, are currently succeeding or not in Greece. Through Foucauldian discourse analysis the Greek and the European legislation is examined, along with the European programmes. Questionnaires answered from the intellectually disabled and a training center’s scientific employees, also aid the investigation process. In a country of limited resources and drastic austerity measures, a vulnerable population’s policy and programme implementation success is questioned. The answer for the present situation is partly given through a deep historical analysis of the country’s legislation since Greece joined the European Union. The rest of the answer is being formed from the answers taken from the population itself, and the training center’s scientific employees. The two separate data sources reveal more answers to a question that still troubles the disability movement as a whole in Greece.