Trust is knowing that... The subjective meanings and senses of experience-based foundations of trust of students with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Trust refers to daily life facilitating factors, to social integration, to a sense of security or quality of life. So far, there have been no studies analysing the trust of students with intellectual disabilities. The analysis of trust of young persons with intellectual disabilities was not attempted. Therefore, a question was formulated: what meanings and senses do students with these disabilities assign to their experiences of the foundations of trust? The study features qualitative research interviews (in-depth and non-structured). The theoretical and empirical assumptions apply the interpretive/constructivist paradigm and phenomenological-hermeneutic perspective based on Alfred Schütz’s social theory. The empirical material was obtained based on 11 interviews conducted with students with mild intellectual disabilities of 6th – 8th grades of special needs comprehensive school. The basis for trust is everyday knowledge manifested in: the knowledge about the essence of trust, knowledge of the study’s participants – their skills and capabilities, the cause that leads to a specific result. Knowledge as the foundation of trust is common and non-reflective, but also authentic and dynamic, revealing ways of coping with everyday life. The meanings and senses assigned to objects, humans and relationships are not a direct representation of the social world, but they constitute in fact the way of life of the subjects.