Mental Retardation: A Study of the Effect of Mental Retardation on Eight Young Adult Siblings Ages Eighteen to Twenty-Five, of Mentally Retarded Adolescents Known to the Mental Retardation Clinic, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital, New York City
Abstract
Background of the Study. Three per cent of the total United States population, some 5.4 million people, are mentally retarded. By 1970, it is estimated there will be at least another million. Quantity alone indicates the magnitude of the problem but to understand the true difficulties, we must look beyond the figures to the meanings of retardation to society, the individual, and the family.In the past much of the philosophy about mental retardation was based on superstition, fear and ignorance. Through many studies done by various disciplines in the field of human development during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, our knowledge of causes of and treatment for retardation has increased and thus given us some scientific understanding of the problem. Unfortunately attitudinal changes have lagged behind scientific discoveries and the words "mental retardation" still carry with them the strong negative stigma born in the past.
Subject Area
Multicultural Education|Mental health
Recommended Citation
Crimmins, Carol, "Mental Retardation: A Study of the Effect of Mental Retardation on Eight Young Adult Siblings Ages Eighteen to Twenty-Five, of Mentally Retarded Adolescents Known to the Mental Retardation Clinic, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital, New York City" (1965). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI31050516.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI31050516
