Culture and Retardation: Life Histories of Mildly Mentally Retarded Persons in American Society

Author:   L.L. Langness ,  Harold G. Levine
Publisher:   Springer
Edition:   1986 ed.
Volume:   8
ISBN:  

9789027721778


Pages:   212
Publication Date:   31 July 1986
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Culture and Retardation: Life Histories of Mildly Mentally Retarded Persons in American Society


Overview

Mental retardation in the United States is currently defined as "" ... signif­ icantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, and manifested during the development period"" (Grossman, 1977). Of the estimated six million plus mentally retarded individuals in this country fully 75 to 85% are considered to be ""func­ tionally"" retarded (Edgerton, 1984). That is, they are mildly retarded persons with no evident organic etiology or demonstrable brain pathology. Despite the relatively recent addition of adaptive behavior as a factor in the definition of retardation, 1.0. still remains as the essential diagnostic criterion (Edgerton, 1984: 26). An 1.0. below 70 indicates subaverage functioning. However, even such an ""objective"" measure as 1.0. is prob­ lematic since a variety of data indicate quite clearly that cultural and social factors are at play in decisions about who is to be considered ""retarded"" (Edgerton, 1968; Kamin, 1974; Langness, 1982). Thus, it has been known for quite some time that there is a close relationship between socio-economic status and the prevalence of mild mental retardation: higher socio-economic groups have fewer mildly retarded persons than lower groups (Hurley, 1969). Similarly, it is clear that ethnic minorities in the United States - Blacks, Mexican-Americans, American Indians, Puerto Ricans, Hawaiians, and others - are disproportionately represented in the retarded population (Mercer, 1968; Ramey et ai., 1978).

Full Product Details

Author:   L.L. Langness ,  Harold G. Levine
Publisher:   Springer
Imprint:   Kluwer Academic Publishers
Edition:   1986 ed.
Volume:   8
Dimensions:   Width: 21.00cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 29.70cm
Weight:   1.110kg
ISBN:  

9789027721778


ISBN 10:   9027721777
Pages:   212
Publication Date:   31 July 1986
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

The Life History Approach to Mental Retardation.- Sarah: The Life Course of a Down’s Syndrome Child.- Life History in Progress: A Retarded Daughter Educates Her Mother.- You Are What You Drink: Evidence of Socialized Incompetence in the Life of a Mildly Retarded Adult.- It Wasn’t Fair: Six Years in the Life of Larry B.- Living in the Real World: Process and Change in the Life of a Retarded Man.- A Case of Delabeling: Some Practical and Theoretical Implications.- Social Support and Individual Adaptation: A Diachronic Perspective.- Theodore V. Barrett: An Account of Adaptive Competence.- Conclusions: Themes in an Anthropology of Mild Mental Retardation.- List of Contributors.

Reviews

`Anyone who appreciates a careful biography that chronicles the individual's transactions with the human environment, shaped by it but also shaping it, will love this book. It portrays eight closely observed persons, and provides two scholarly chapters of integration and interpretation, including the qualities of the no-numeric methodologies employed.' Dr. C. Edward Meyers, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Soutern California `...this text is a must for all who are interested in mental retardation.' Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review (1987)


'Anyone who appreciates a careful biography that chronicles the individual's transactions with the human environment, shaped by it but also shaping it, will love this book. It portrays eight closely observed persons, and provides two scholarly chapters of integration and interpretation, including the qualities of the no-numeric methodologies employed.' Dr. C. Edward Meyers, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Soutern California '...this text is a must for all who are interested in mental retardation.' Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review (1987)


Anyone who appreciates a careful biography that chronicles the individual's transactions with the human environment, shaped by it but also shaping it, will love this book. It portrays eight closely observed persons, and provides two scholarly chapters of integration and interpretation, including the qualities of the no-numeric methodologies employed.' Dr. C. Edward Meyers, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Soutern California ...this text is a must for all who are interested in mental retardation.' Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review (1987)


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