Retarded Children A Study of the Development of a Religious Education Program for the Mentally Retarded Catholic Children in Syracuse, New York, 1959 – 1961
Abstract
Background of the Study: Historians have long considered the plight of the mentally retarded as one of the most grim in human history. Since the more extreme degrees of retardation were recognized even in the earliest eras, primitive tribes deliberately abandon these less fortunates knowing they would soon die. This practice continued during the days of the Greek and Roman Empires when elimination of the retardates became more active. Drowning, starvation and murder were approved by the state, society and often commended by religious cults. Idiot, a term used in early history to describe the retarded, is presumably derived from Greek roots — "iditas", meaning a private person, or "idios", meaning peculiar - a person set apart or alone. These roots themselves suggest nonsocial or isolation , the idea that retardates live in a world alone and away from society. The term reflects the treatment since the retarded were ostracized, ridiculed, persecuted and grossly neglected. Their affect conveyed little human feeling and, therefore, they merited little human compassion.
Subject Area
Mental health|Religious education|Social work
Recommended Citation
Walsh, Rose Marie, "Retarded Children A Study of the Development of a Religious Education Program for the Mentally Retarded Catholic Children in Syracuse, New York, 1959 – 1961" (1962). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30670832.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30670832
