YOU CAN GET SETTLEMENT FOR ACCIDENT SCAR – LAWYERS

Our personal injury lawyers handle cases where a permanent scar is the worst part of the injury. Most these scar cases come from a dog bite. However, many motorcycle accidents result in serious scars. Likewise, a car accident can result in scarring from broken glass of the seatbelt. Unfortunately, a scar can leave lasting effects on the victim – both in how they see themselves, and how others see them.

There has been much research done with victims of facial disfigurement and the associated problems of adjustment which they suffer.

INJURY SCAR EFFECTS YOUR SELF ESTEEM

A recent Time Magazine article (August 14, 2023) contained an essay written by someone with physical disfigurement. In the essay, the author wrote, “While there really isn’t anything I can’t do, it felt like an obvious inadequacy in a world saturated with an obsessive desire for perfection. … I did just about anything to ease the agonizing pains of the stares, verbal taunts, and pointed fingers from my classmates. … I had no self-confidence.”

SCAR EFFECTS HOW OTHERS PERCEIVE YOU

Theodora Abel, Ph.D., had a journal article published in the New York Academy of Sciences. In it she wrote, “Facial disfigurement as well as other forms of handicaps may evoke a variety of social attitudes reflecting disapproval, fear, superstition, and prejudice. Sometimes, this is manifested directly, sometimes in disguised form of discrimination and hostility.” Dr. Abel further states that part of this awareness stems from “cultural emphasis placed on facial beauty and physical attractiveness for employment, marriage, and success in general.”

This is echoed by Francis McGregor in the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare Conference Brief: Facial Disfigurement, A Rehabilitation Problem. Professor McGregor states:

One of the ironies of which the facial disfigurement in our society must contend is the inordinate value placed on external appearance. In fact, physical attractiveness is regarded as a necessary component for success in a highly competitive society. In addition, it is also viewed as a salable commodity.

SCAR EFFECT ON CHILDREN

Studies have been completed to investigate the attitude towards different types of physical disabilities. Professor McGregor comments on S.A. Richardson’s investigation of the reaction of 640 boys and girls, ages 10 and 11, to the physical disabilities of other children. Children were asked to “preference rank a set of drawings of children who differ only with respect to physical handicaps.”

There were six drawings: 1. A child with no physical handicaps; 2. A child with crutches and a brace on one leg; 3. A child with one hand missing; 4. A child sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket covering both legs; 5. A child with disfigurement on one side of the mouth; and 6. An obese child.

Results showed an unexpectedly uniform reaction. In fact, the ranking order was almost unanimous. As predicted, the first preference was for the child with no handicap. The other preferences fell as follows: Second, the child with crutches; third, the child in the wheelchair; fourth, the child with one hand missing; fifth, the facially disfigured child; and sixth, the obese child. Professor McGregor states that:

Two aspects of these findings have particular relevance of the facially disfigured. One is the apparent increase liking showed by the group as a whole for the child whose disability was more distant from the face. Secondly, it is not the physically crippled who rank the lowest in the scale, but the disfigured and obese children — the children with the handicap that mainly affects their social relationships.

Of course, the values and prejudices of children are largely reflected from the adult world from which they are reared. Therefore, the reaction to facial disfigurement in this study represents a commentary of the deprecatory and often stigmatizing evaluation by our society of individuals with facial defects.

LAWYERS FOR SCAR SETTLEMENT CASE

Our scar accident lawyers handle cases throughout Minnesota. If you or your child have a scar from an accident, call us. You will speak directly with a lawyer. To start, the initial consultation is free. Therefore, we can take the time to listen to your story and answer your questions. The primary purpose of our lawyers is to get you full compensation for your scar injury. Further, we never will charge anything unless you receive compensation.