Labeling the Mentally Retarded
Labeling the Mentally Retarded

Author: Jane R. Mercer

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2023-11-10

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0520311507

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This eight-year study of an American city traces the answer to the question "Who is retarded?" by analyzing the labeling process in a large number of community agencies. Data for the study are drawn from a representative sample of 7,000 persons under fifty years of age who were tested ans screened for "symptoms" of mental retardation. The author finds that that schools label more persons as mentally retarded than any other agency and share their labels more widely with others in the community. Relying on IQ test scores for diagnosis, schools place many persons with scores above 70 and with no physical disabilities in the role of retardate. The author contends that both the statistical model of "normal" and the unicultural viewpoint of educators and clinicians work to the disadvantage of the poor and the ethnic minorities. Given the opportunity, many persons demonstrate by their ability to cope with the problems in other areas of life that they are not comprehensively incompetent. The author makes serval policy recommendations. First, she suggests lowering the IQ score cutoff point used by schools in determining who shall be labeled as retarded. Second, she recommends that the clinicians use the two-dimensional definition of retardation proposed by the American Association of Mental Deficiency, subnormality in both intellectual performance and adaptive behavior. Third, she concludes that pluralistic assessment procedures must be employed to take into account cultural biases in IQ tests designed to measure cognitive skills. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.

Labeling the Mentally Retarded
Labeling the Mentally Retarded

Author: Jane R. Mercer

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2022-04-29

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0520307003

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This eight-year study of an American city traces the answer to the question "Who is retarded?" by analyzing the labeling process in a large number of community agencies. Data for the study are drawn from a representative sample of 7,000 persons under fifty years of age who were tested ans screened for "symptoms" of mental retardation. The author finds that that schools label more persons as mentally retarded than any other agency and share their labels more widely with others in the community. Relying on IQ test scores for diagnosis, schools place many persons with scores above 70 and with no physical disabilities in the role of retardate. The author contends that both the statistical model of "normal" and the unicultural viewpoint of educators and clinicians work to the disadvantage of the poor and the ethnic minorities. Given the opportunity, many persons demonstrate by their ability to cope with the problems in other areas of life that they are not comprehensively incompetent. The author makes serval policy recommendations. First, she suggests lowering the IQ score cutoff point used by schools in determining who shall be labeled as retarded. Second, she recommends that the clinicians use the two-dimensional definition of retardation proposed by the American Association of Mental Deficiency, subnormality in both intellectual performance and adaptive behavior. Third, she concludes that pluralistic assessment procedures must be employed to take into account cultural biases in IQ tests designed to measure cognitive skills. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1973.

Mental Retardation in America
Mental Retardation in America

Author: Steven Noll

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2004-02

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13: 0814782485

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The expressions "idiot, you idiot, you're an idiot, don't be an idiot," and the like are generally interpreted as momentary insults. But, they are also expressions that represent an old, if unstable, history. Beginning with an examination of the early nineteenth century labeling of mental retardation as "idiocy," to what we call developmental, intellectual, or learning disabilities, Mental Retardation in America chronicles the history of mental retardation, its treatment and labeling, and its representations and ramifications within the changing economic, social, and political context of America. Mental Retardation in America includes essays with a wide range of authors who approach the problems of retardation from many differing points of view. This work is divided into five sections, each following in chronological order the major changes in the treatment of people classified as retarded. Exploring historical issues, as well as current public policy concerns, Mental Retardation in America covers topics ranging from representations of the mentally disabled as social burdens and social menaces; Freudian inspired ideas of adjustment and adaptation; the relationship between community care and institutional treatment; historical events, such as the Buck v. Bell decision, which upheld the opinion on eugenic sterilization; the evolution of the disability rights movement; and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.

Ethics and Mental Retardation
Ethics and Mental Retardation

Author: J.C. Moskop

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 9401714800

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This volume offers a collection of writings on ethical issues regarding retarded persons. Because this important subject has been generally omitted from formal discussions of ethics, there is a great deal which needs to be addressed in a theoretical and critical way. Of course, many people have been very concerned with practical matters concerning the care of retarded persons such as what liberties, entitlements or advocacy they should have. Interestingly, because so much practical attention has been given to issues which are not discussed by ethical theorists, they offer a rare opportunity to evaluate ethical theories themselves. That is, certain theories which appear convincing on other subjects seem implausible when they are applied to reasoned and com pelling views we hold concerning retarded individuals. Our subject, then, has both practical and conceptual dimensions. More over, because it is one where pertinent information comes from many sources, contributors to this volume represent many fields, including philosophy, religion, history, law and medicine. We regret that it was not possible to include more points of view, like those of psychologists, sociologists, nurses and families. There is however, a good and longstanding literature on mental retardation from these perspectives.

Ethics and Mental Retardation
Ethics and Mental Retardation

Author: L.M. Kopelman

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1984-02-29

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9789027716309

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This volume offers a collection of writings on ethical issues regarding retarded persons. Because this important subject has been generally omitted from formal discussions of ethics, there is a great deal which needs to be addressed in a theoretical and critical way. Of course, many people have been very concerned with practical matters concerning the care of retarded persons such as what liberties, entitlements or advocacy they should have. Interestingly, because so much practical attention has been given to issues which are not discussed by ethical theorists, they offer a rare opportunity to evaluate ethical theories themselves. That is, certain theories which appear convincing on other subjects seem implausible when they are applied to reasoned and com pelling views we hold concerning retarded individuals. Our subject, then, has both practical and conceptual dimensions. More over, because it is one where pertinent information comes from many sources, contributors to this volume represent many fields, including philosophy, religion, history, law and medicine. We regret that it was not possible to include more points of view, like those of psychologists, sociologists, nurses and families. There is however, a good and longstanding literature on mental retardation from these perspectives.

What is Mental Retardation?
What is Mental Retardation?

Author: Harvey N. Switzky

Publisher: AAMR

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780940898943

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What is Mental Retardation? is a rare peek into the divergent--and at times contentious--points of view among the world's leading researchers on what the condition of mental retardation is and how it should be defined, measured, and implemented in the 21st century. This candid and insightful collection of 21 essays features expert opinion on issues ranging from whether mental retardation really is a slowing of mental development and what the disability should be called, to how cultural norms affect the definition of the condition worldwide and lessons learned from the Atkins v. Virginia case. The definitions of mental retardation published from 1921-2002 by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities provide the backdrop for this powerful discussion.

Equal Treatment for People with Mental Retardation
Equal Treatment for People with Mental Retardation

Author: Martha A. Field

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 9780674036840

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Engaging in sex, becoming parents, raising children: these are among the most personal decisions we make, and for people with mental retardation, these decisions are consistently challenged, regulated, and outlawed. This book is a comprehensive study of the American legal doctrines and social policies, past and present, that have governed procreation and parenting by persons with mental retardation. It argues persuasively that people with retardation should have legal authority to make their own decisions. Despite the progress of the normalization movement, which has moved so many people with mental retardation into the mainstream since the 1960s, negative myths about reproduction and child rearing among this population persist. Martha Field and Valerie Sanchez trace these prejudices to the eugenics movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They show how misperceptions have led to inconsistent and discriminatory outcomes when third parties seek to make birth control or parenting decisions for people with mental retardation. They also explore the effect of these decisions on those they purport to protect. Detailed, thorough, and just, their book is a sustained argument for reform of the legal practices and social policies it describes.