Self-Determination and Culture: An Intervening Variable

According to Wehmeyer at al. (2011), moderating variables exist that influence the outcome of successful self-determined individuals, which include age and life stages, gender, culture, religious beliefs and spirituality and experiences of oppression, segregation and discrimination (Zhang & Benz, 2006; Wehmeyer at al., 2011). This paper, however, will emphasize only the effects of culture in the quest for self-determined individuals. The purpose of this paper is to explore the special education literature to determine how self-determination is perceived in minority cultures and the possible cultural issues which affect self-determination. This paper may serve to fill in small gaps in the self-determination-culture phenomenon and serve as a platform on which to conduct further research