«Full and Useful Lives»: La déficience intellectuelle au sein du discours médical canadien (1956-1972).

Abstract

Articles published between 1956 and 1972 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) and the Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal (CPAJ) reflect the Canadian medical community's certain interest in mental retardation during this period. Much of the scientific production in this area at that time seems to have been aimed at alleviating the economic burden of mental retardation by making the mentally retarded person autonomous and capable of performing an economic function. This article intends to highlight this ambition to discipline the mentally retarded through the study of the CMAJ and CPAJ articles. It begins with a discussion of the diagnosis of mental retardation, followed by a discussion of the treatments, care and services to be offered. The last part of this text deals with the discourse conveyed in the two journals regarding the mentally retarded that seems unable to live outside of the institution and perform an economic function.