Feeble-Minded in Our Midst

by Steven Noll

• ISBN13: 9780807845318
• ISBN10: 0807845310
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2018-06-15
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

Summary

The problem of how to treat the mentally handicapped attracted much attention from American reformers in the first half of the twentieth century. In this book, Steven Noll traces the history and development of institutions for the 'feeble-minded' in the South between 1900 and 1940. He examines the influences of gender, race, and class in the institutionalization process and relates policies in the South to those in the North and Midwest, regions that had established similar institutions much earlier. At the center of the story is the debate between the humanitarians, who advocated institutionalization as a way of protecting and ministering to the mentally deficient, and public policy adherents, who were primarily interested in controlling and isolating perceived deviants. According to Noll, these conflicting ideologies meant that most southern institutions were founded without a clear mission or an understanding of their relationship to southern society at large. Noll creates a vivid portrait of life and work within institutions throughout the South and the impact of institutionalization on patients and their families. He also examines the composition of the population labeled feeble-minded and demonstrates a relationship between demographic variables and institutional placement, including their effect on the determination of a patient's degree of disability. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Author Biography

Steven Noll is adjunct assistant professor of history at the University of Florida.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introducton	p. 1
From Neglect to Control the Opening of Institutions in the South	p. 11
The Establishment of a National Profession Mental Retardation, 1900-1940	p. 27
Southern Institutions in a Wider World	p. 47
The Promise of Sterilization	p. 65
Under a Double Burden Feeble-Minded Blacks in the South	p. 89
The Multiple Functions of Southern Institutions	p. 105
Internal Dynamics Demographics and Mental Levels in Southern Institutions	p. 125
Internal Dynamics Staffing and Schooling in Southern Institutions	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 155
Notes	p. 159
Bibliography	p. 207
Index	p. 247
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