Feeble-minded
Encyclopedia
The term feeble-minded was used from the late nineteenth century in Great Britain, Europe and the United States to refer to a specific type of "mental deficiency". At the time, mental deficiency was an umbrella term, which encompassed all degrees of educational and social deficiency. Within the concept of mental deficiency, researchers established a hierarchy, ranging from idiocy
, at the most severe end of the scale; to imbecility
, at the median point; and to feeble-mindedness at the highest end of functioning. The latter was conceived of as a form of high-grade mental deficiency.
The development of the ranking system of mental deficiency has been attributed to Sir Charles Trevelyan
in 1876, and was associated with the rise of eugenics
. The term and hierarchy had been used in that sense at least ten years previously. "Wild card" terms outside the established hierarchy of mental deficiency, such as idiot savant, may have been used as connotations for those who would today be considered to be included in the autistic spectrum.
. A biblical injunction to "Comforte the feble mynded" is included in Thessalonians 1:14.
A London Times
editorial
of November 1834 describes the long-serving former Prime Minister
Lord Liverpool as a "feeble-minded pedant of office".
Despite being pejorative
, in its day the term was considered, along with idiot and moron
, to be a relatively precise psychiatric classification.
The American psychologist Henry H. Goddard
, who coined the term moron
, was the director of the Vineland Training School
(originally the Vineland Training School for Backward and Feeble-minded Children) at Vineland, New Jersey
. Goddard was known for strongly postulating that "feeble-mindedness" was a hereditary trait, most likely caused by a single recessive gene. Goddard rang the eugenic
"alarm bells" in his 1912 work, The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness
, about those in the population who carried the recessive trait despite outward appearances of normality.
In the first half of the 20th century, a diagnosis of "feeble-mindedness, in any of its grades" was a common criterion for many states in the United States, which embraced eugenics as a progressive measure, to mandate the compulsory sterilization
of such patients. In the 1927 US Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell
, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
closed the 8-1 majority opinion upholding the sterilization of Carrie Buck
, with the phrase, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." Buck, her mother and daughter were all classified as feeble-minded.
published a short story, "Told in the Drooling Ward" (1914), which describes inmates at a California institution for the "feeble-minded." He narrates the story from the point of view of a self-styled "high-grade feeb". The California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children, now the Sonoma Developmental Center
, was located near the Jack London Ranch in Glen Ellen, California
.
Idiot
An idiot, dolt, or dullard is a mentally deficient person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. Archaically the word mome has also been used. The similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin have all gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is...
, at the most severe end of the scale; to imbecility
Imbecile
Imbecile is a term for moderate to severe mental retardation, as well as for a type of criminal. It arises from the Latin word imbecillus, meaning weak, or weak-minded. "Imbecile" was once applied to people with an IQ of 26-50, between "moron" and "idiot" .The term was further refined into mental...
, at the median point; and to feeble-mindedness at the highest end of functioning. The latter was conceived of as a form of high-grade mental deficiency.
The development of the ranking system of mental deficiency has been attributed to Sir Charles Trevelyan
Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet
Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan, 1st Baronet, KCB was a British civil servant and colonial administrator. As a young man, he worked with the colonial government in Calcutta, India; in the late 1850s and 1860s he served there in senior-level appointments...
in 1876, and was associated with the rise of eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
. The term and hierarchy had been used in that sense at least ten years previously. "Wild card" terms outside the established hierarchy of mental deficiency, such as idiot savant, may have been used as connotations for those who would today be considered to be included in the autistic spectrum.
History
The earliest recorded use of the term in the English language dates from 1534, when it appears in one of the first English translations of the New TestamentNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. A biblical injunction to "Comforte the feble mynded" is included in Thessalonians 1:14.
A London Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
of November 1834 describes the long-serving former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Lord Liverpool as a "feeble-minded pedant of office".
Definition
The British government's Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-Minded (1904-1908), in its Report in 1908 defined the feeble-minded as:persons who may be capable of earning a living under favourable circumstances, but are incapable from mental defect, existing from birth or from an early age: (1) of competing on equal terms with their normal fellows, or (2) of managing themselves and their affairs with ordinary prudence.
Despite being pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
, in its day the term was considered, along with idiot and moron
Moron (psychology)
Moron is a term once used in psychology to denote mild mental retardation. The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement. Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community, as it was used more commonly as an insult than as a psychological...
, to be a relatively precise psychiatric classification.
The American psychologist Henry H. Goddard
Henry H. Goddard
Henry Herbert Goddard was a prominent American psychologist and eugenicist in the early 20th century...
, who coined the term moron
Moron (psychology)
Moron is a term once used in psychology to denote mild mental retardation. The term was closely tied with the American eugenics movement. Once the term became popularized, it fell out of use by the psychological community, as it was used more commonly as an insult than as a psychological...
, was the director of the Vineland Training School
Vineland Training School
The Vineland Training School is a non-profit organization in Vineland, New Jersey with the mission of educating the developmentally disabled so they can live independently. It has been a leader in research and testing....
(originally the Vineland Training School for Backward and Feeble-minded Children) at Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 60,724...
. Goddard was known for strongly postulating that "feeble-mindedness" was a hereditary trait, most likely caused by a single recessive gene. Goddard rang the eugenic
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
"alarm bells" in his 1912 work, The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness
The Kallikak Family
The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Heredity of Feeble-Mindedness was a 1912 book by the American psychologist and eugenicist Henry H. Goddard. The work was an extended case study of Goddard's for the inheritance of "feeble-mindedness," a general category referring to a variety of mental...
, about those in the population who carried the recessive trait despite outward appearances of normality.
In the first half of the 20th century, a diagnosis of "feeble-mindedness, in any of its grades" was a common criterion for many states in the United States, which embraced eugenics as a progressive measure, to mandate the compulsory sterilization
Compulsory sterilization
Compulsory sterilization also known as forced sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization...
of such patients. In the 1927 US Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell
Buck v. Bell
Buck v. Bell, , was the United States Supreme Court ruling that upheld a statute instituting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the mentally retarded, "for the protection and health of the state." It was largely seen as an endorsement of negative eugenics—the attempt to improve...
, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
closed the 8-1 majority opinion upholding the sterilization of Carrie Buck
Carrie Buck
Carrie Buck was a plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court case, Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 , and was ordered to undergo compulsory sterilization for purportedly being "feeble-minded." The surgery was carried out while Buck was an inmate of the Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and...
, with the phrase, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough." Buck, her mother and daughter were all classified as feeble-minded.
Representation in other media
Jack LondonJack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
published a short story, "Told in the Drooling Ward" (1914), which describes inmates at a California institution for the "feeble-minded." He narrates the story from the point of view of a self-styled "high-grade feeb". The California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children, now the Sonoma Developmental Center
Sonoma Developmental Center
The Sonoma Developmental Center is a large, state-run facility in California, United States, serving the needs of people with developmental disabilities. It is located in Eldridge in Sonoma County. It opened at its current location on November 24, 1891, though it had existed at previous locations...
, was located near the Jack London Ranch in Glen Ellen, California
Glen Ellen, California
Glen Ellen is a census-designated place in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Park , Sonoma Valley Regional Park, and a former home of Hunter S....
.
See also
- Mental retardationMental retardationMental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
- Autistic spectrum
- Developmental disorderDevelopmental disorderDevelopmental disorders occur at some stage in a child's development, often retarding the development. These may include,psychological or physical disorders. The disorder is an impairment in the normal development of motor or cognitive skills that are developed before age 18 in which they are...
- Walter E. Fernald State SchoolWalter E. Fernald State SchoolThe Walter E. Fernald State School, now the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, is the Western hemisphere's oldest publicly funded institution serving people with developmental disabilities. Originally a Victorian sanatorium, it became a "poster child" for...
- Fairview Training CenterFairview Training CenterThe Fairview Training Center was a state-run facility for people with developmental disabilities in Salem, Oregon, United States. Fairview was established in 1907 as the State Institution for the Feeble-Minded. The hospital opened on December 1, 1908 with 39 patients transferred from the Oregon...
External links
- Jack London, "Told In the Drooling Ward", online text, University of California at Berkeley