British applied psychology of subnormality.

Abstract

Having such a long experience of caring for the subnormal, the British have had as many opportunities as most countries to make mistakes in this regard. The Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 and its subsequent modifying Acts embodied a principle of hospital care based on relevant social conditions just as previous attempts at prOvision had reflected a growing awareness of nationhood and responsibility towards the poor. Our own more recent attitudes reflect a fundamental change of view from that embodied in the 1913 Act, but will no doubt be seen in due course as characteristically late 20th century British. The division of our approach to care into three historical periods may do some injustice to more refined historical research but by emphasizing the liberal approach before 1913 we take account of the national awareness of the problems, often joint, of poverty and disease. The Royal Commission on the Poor Law of 1908 reflected a growing awareness of Governmental responsibility for social conditions. The Liberal administration of the time, advised by its experience with 38 years of compulsory education, was aware of the need for legislation covering the poor and the subnormal, but aware also of the cost. Their approach was informed, as in the U.S., by the new-found interest in genetics and eugenics inspired by Darwin's Origin of the Species, but was carried further in Britain by studies in statistics, related to the physique of the nation following recruiting for the Boer War in 1902. In this war it had been found that very few recruits met the simple requirements for military service, and leading scholars such as Galton and Pearson at University College London raised the problem of possible national degeneracy due to assortative mating and differential fertility. According to one statement made by Galton, it was believed at the time that one-tenth of one generation could become half the next. The