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The Origin And Nature Of Our Institutional Models

From: Changing Patterns in Residential Services for the Mentally Retarded
Creator: Wolf Wolfensberger (author)
Date: January 10, 1969
Publisher: President's Committee on Mental Retardation, Washington, D.C.
Source: Available at selected libraries

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"When we view the number of the feeble-minded, their fecundity, their lack of control, the menace they are, the degradation they cause, the degeneracy they perpetuate, the suffering and misery and crime they spread, -- these are the burden we must bear" (Butler, 1915, p. 361). "For many generations we have recognized and pitied the idiot. Of late we have recognized a higher type of defective, the moron, and have discovered that he is a burden; that he is a menace to society and civilization; that he is responsible to a large degree for many, if not all, of our social problems" (Goddard, 1915, p. 307). "... We preach . . . that . . . the feeble-minded at large unguarded are a menace to the community" (Cornell, 1915, p. 322). "... Those unfortunate members of society who fall so far short of the line of normal mentality as to be an inherent social menace." " . . . It is among this group that there flourishes the real peril to the mental and moral stamina of our nation." "The problem itself is the most serious facing the country today" (Schlapp, 1915, pp. 320-321).

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Bullard (1910, pp. 14-15), in the strongest statement of indictment of retarded women, warned: "Girls of the classes described must be cared for by the state .... There is no class of persons in our whole population who, unit for unit, are so dangerous or so expensive to the state. This excepts no class, not even the violently insane. They are much more dangerous and expensive than the ordinary insane or the ordinary feeble-minded or the ordinary male criminal." He (1910, p. 320) added; "There is probably no class of persons who are more fitted and more apt to spread disease and moral evil than these girls," and "One evil girl may corrupt a whole village." "A single feeble-minded girl among a group of young boys becomes a plague-spot, the consequences of which are frightful" (Butler, 1915, p. 358).

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It can be noted from the statements quoted above that while male retardates were seen as a "menace of the greatest magnitude," females were seen as even more dangerous, if this is possible: "It is certain that the feeble-minded girl or woman in the city rarely escapes the sexual experiences that too often result in the birth of more defectives and degenerates" (Fernald, 1912, p. 90). "... Imbecile girls and women everywhere are an easy prey to the wiles and lust of brutal men. . ." (Carson, 1898, p. 296). "Few of these girls permanently escape, unless they are specially cared for by wise and understanding people. Their care demands unceasing vigilance and constant thought, which can rarely be properly exercised outside of an institution. As a fact, these girls -- unless cared for permanently in an institution -- usually become immoral or are led away to make bad marriages. In either case their children are apt to be mentally defective, with more or less pronounced animal instincts, diseased and depraved, a curse and menace to the community. This goes on constantly increasing unless we take means . . . to prevent the production of children. The evil that one feeble-minded woman can cause through the production of feeble-minded children is incalculable. It has often been plainly stated: statistics have been carefully compiled and the results are too well known to need repetition before this Conference" (Bullard, 1910, pp. 333-334). "Feeble-minded vomen are almost invariably immoral, and if at large usually become carriers of venereal disease or give birth to children who are as defective as themselves. The feeble-minded woman who marries is twice as prolific as the normal woman" (Fernald, 1915, pp. 90-91). Schlapp (1915, p. 323) referred to "... the feeble-minded pregnant woman who is, naturally, unmoral." "The debasing and demoralizaing influence of an unrestrained feeble-minded woman in a community is beyond the comprehension of the uninformed" (Butler, 1907, p. 2).

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Fernald was one of the strongest indictors: "And pauperism breeding other paupers, what is it but imbecility let free to do its mischief?" "The tendency to lead dissolute lives is especially noticeable in the females. A feeble-minded girl is exposed as no other girl in the world is exposed" (Fernald, 1893, p. 212). Later, (1904, p. 383) he said: "It is well known that feeble-minded women and girls are very liable to become sources of unspeakable debauchery and licentiousness which pollutes the whole life of the young boys and youth of the community. They frequently disseminate in a wholesale way the most loathsome and deadly diseases, permanently poisoning the minds and bodies of thoughtless youth at the very threshold of manhood. Almost every country town has one or more of these defective women each having from one to four or more illegitimate children, every one of whom is predestined to be defective mentally, criminal, or an outcast of some sort.

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"The modern American community is very intolerant of the presence of these dangerous defectives with the desires and passions of adult life, without control of reason and judgment. There is a widespread and insistent demand that these women be put under control" (Fernald, 1904, p. 383). "The adult males become the town loafers and incapables, the irresponsible pests of the neighborhood, petty thieves, purposeless destroyers of property, incendiaries, and very frequently violators of women and little girls" (Fernald, 1904, p. 383). "The social and economic burdens of uncomplicated feeble-mindedness are only too well known. The feeble-minded are a parasitic, predatory class, never capable of self-support or of managing their own affairs. The great majority ultimately become public charges in some form. They cause considerable sorrow at home and are a menace and danger to the community." "Every feeble-minded person, especially the high-grade imbecile, is a potential criminal, needing only the proper environment and opportunity for the development and expression of his criminal tendencies. The unrecognized imbecile is a most dangerous element in the community." "It has been truly said that feeble-mindedness is the mother of crime, pauperism and degeneracy. It is certain that the feeble-minded and the progeny of the feeble-minded constitute one of the great social and economic burdens of modern times" (Fernald, 1915, pp. 190; 91; 92).

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