Marginalisation in learning disability services: an exploration of the issues.
Citation:
Sheerin, F., Marginalisation in learning disability services: an exploration of the issues., Nursing Review., 16, 3/4, 1998, 70 - 73Download Item:
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Abstract:
In order to understand the reasons for the rapid growth of
eugenics in late nineteenth century
Britain and the U.S.A, one must first take account of the influence which the industrial and
scientific revolution was exerting upon society (Giddens 1997,
Worsley 1992). Pre-revolution
societies had been based principally on agriculture, although there were some centres of trade
and manufacture. These were typically large states, governed by kings or emperors (Giddens
1997), with a simple form of social stratification, dividin
g aristocratic groups from the rest of the
populace. Education too, was principally the realm of the aristocracy, with most of the peasantry
being able to neither read nor write (Giddens 1997, Whelan 1995).
In the context of pre-industrial society, where the emphasis was on work rather
than on education, the problem of
learning disability was not a visible one. Multiply handi
capped children probably did not even
survive pregnancy, and if they did, no health system exis
ted to support their lives (Worsley
1992). Thus, it is likely that those learning disabled people
who did survive had, in present
terms, mild to moderate degrees of disability, with littl
e physical incapacitation. This supposition
is supported by Plater’s (1535
-1614) classification of mental disease, which identifies
learning
disability, at that time, solely in terms of mentis imbecilitas (mental weakness).
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/sheerinfDescription:
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Author: SHEERIN, FINTAN
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections:
Series/Report no:
Nursing Review.16
3/4
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Full text availableKeywords:
EugenicsSubject (TCD):
Inclusive Society , Making IrelandLicences: