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Christmas In Purgatory: A Photographic Essay On Mental Retardation

Creator: Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan (authors)
Date: 1974
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9  Figure 10  Figure 11  Figure 12  Figure 13  Figure 14  Figure 15  Figure 16  Figure 17  Figure 18  Figure 19  Figure 20  Figure 21  Figure 22  Figure 23  Figure 24  Figure 25  Figure 26  Figure 27  Figure 28  Figure 29  Figure 30  Figure 31  Figure 32  Figure 33  Figure 34  Figure 35  Figure 36  Figure 37  Figure 38  Figure 39  Figure 40  Figure 41  Figure 42  Figure 43  Figure 44  Figure 45  Figure 46  Figure 47  Figure 48  Figure 49  Figure 50  Figure 51  Figure 52  Figure 53  Figure 54  Figure 55  Figure 56  Figure 57  Figure 58  Figure 59  Figure 60  Figure 61  Figure 62  Figure 63  Figure 64  Figure 65  Figure 66  Figure 67  Figure 68  Figure 69  Figure 70  Figure 71  Figure 72  Figure 73  Figure 74  Figure 75  Figure 76  Figure 77  Figure 78  Figure 79  Figure 80  Figure 81  Figure 82  Figure 83  Figure 84  Figure 85  Figure 86  Figure 87  Figure 88  Figure 89  Figure 90  Figure 91  Figure 92  Figure 93  Figure 94  Figure 95  Figure 96  Figure 97  Figure 98  Figure 99  Figure 100  Figure 101  Figure 102  Figure 103  Figure 104  Figure 105  Figure 106  Figure 107  Figure 108  Figure 109  Figure 110  Figure 111  Figure 112  Figure 113  Figure 114  Figure 115  Figure 116  Figure 117  Figure 118  Figure 119  Figure 120  Figure 121

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After a good deal of thought, I decided to follow through on a seemingly bizarre venture. One of my close friends, Fred Kaplan, is a freelance photographer who has worked for many national publications. The following plan was presented to him. We were to arrange to meet with each of several key administrative persons in a variety of public institutions for the mentally retarded. If we gained an individual's cooperation, in spite of the obvious great risk he would be assuming with respect to his institutional status and possible job security, we would be taken on a "tour" of the back wards and those parts of the institution that he was most ashamed of. On the "tour" Fred Kaplan would take pictures of what we observed, utilizing a hidden camera attached to his belt. During the month of December, 1965, we visited -- at our own expense -- five state institutions for the mentally retarded in four eastern states. Through the efforts of courageous and humanitarian colleagues, including two superintendents who put their reputations and professional positions in jeopardy, we were able to visit the darkest corridors and vestibules that humanity provides for its journey to purgatory and, without being detected by ward personnel and professional staff, Fred Kaplan was able to take hundreds of photographs.

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The latter point deserves some comment. Our photographs are not always the clearest and, probably, Fred Kaplan is not proud of the technical qualities of every one published in this book. On the other hand, it required a truly creative and skilled photographer to take these pictures, "from the hip" so to speak, unable to use special lighting, not permitted to focus or set shutter speeds, with a small camera concealed in multitudes of clothing and surrounded by innumerable "eyes" of patients as well as of staff. Although our pictures could not even begin to capture the total and overwhelming horror we saw, smelled, and felt, they represent a side of America that has rarely been shown to the general public and is little understood by most of us.

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We do not believe it is necessary to disclose the names of the institutions we visited. First, we have a deep debt of gratitude to those who permitted us to photograph that which they are most ashamed of. To reveal the names of the places we visited is, assuredly, an invitation to invite their instant dismissal. However, we have a much more forceful reason for not admitting to where we have been. These pictures are a challenge to all institutions for the mentally retarded in the United States. We are firmly convinced that in many other institutions in America we could have taken the same pictures -- some, we are sure, even more frightening.

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Our "Christmas in Purgatory" brought us to the depths of despair. We now have a deep sorrow, one that will not abate until the American people are aware of -- and do something about -- the treatment of the severely mentally retarded in our state institutions. We have again been caused to realize that "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn."

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It is fitting that this book -- our purgatory in black and white-was written on the 700th anniversary of the birth of Dante.

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B.B.

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PURGATORY I
"Abandon all hope..."

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"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."
Dante

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This book is divided into two major sections. The first section covers our visits to four institutions for the mentally retarded, located in three eastern states. The second section describes a fifth institution in another state. The latter is our way of communicating our deep conviction that many of the severe conditions with which you are about to become involved are not necessary consequences of the fact of institutionalization of mentally retarded individuals. These problems are largely the result of inadequate budgets, inferior facilities, untrained personnel, and haphazard planning -- in spite of some dedicated and skilled professional workers in each of the institutions we visited. For example, the average per capita daily cost for maintaining a retarded resident in each of the four institutions we are about to describe is less than $7.00 and, in one state school, less than $5.00. In contrast, The Seaside, a regional center for the retarded sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Health, spends $12.00 daily for the care and treatment of each resident.

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As was mentioned in the foreword, we are not disclosing the names either of the institutions or the states where they are located with the exception of -- for obvious reasons -- the contrast institution. As far as the contrast institution, The Seaside, is concerned, we will be speaking about that one Center. We make no claim that The Seaside is representative or not representative of the Connecticut program for the mentally retarded although the State of Connecticut is to be commended for this -- at least one -- affirmation of the dignity of all mankind.

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We repeat something already said, needing emphasis. What was observed in the institutions presented in Part I reflects what we have seen in other state institutions for the mentally retarded in other parts of the country. We know of few state institutions that do not -- to a degree -- have problems similar to the ones discussed in this book. The Seaside is one of the rare examples where one may see every ward -- without becoming revolted or depressed. To be sure, every institution we visited during our Christmas recess had many things of which to be proud and further, each is accomplishing good work in care and treatment. However, with the exception of The Seaside, each had made miniscule progress, especially in those areas concerning the care of severely retarded ambulatory adults and moderately and severely retarded young children. It is in the hope of calling attention to the desperate needs of these institutions and thereby paving the way for upgrading all institutions for the mentally retarded in all dimensions of their responsibilities that this study was undertaken.

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