THE ROLE OF THE PROFESSIONS IN EVALUATING RETARDATION

Abstract

These questions deserve consideration because the most obvious thing about social probl&n, is this: while on rhc one hlnd to inosr of thvsc invol\.ed in thin, rhcy are rc~~r:l?il t i> IIJIIII,I//Y il~n~andins x.,ti,)n: ::illin: tor a ic:lin ~ be doEe, on the other hand, people rn different socreties or socigl groups or s i t d o n s may not see anything particularly noteworthy or problematical, faced with a very similar set of facts. Or, what is even more upsetting, two groups may agree that there is indeed a serious social problem, but disagree as to what should be done about it. Probably, some people here regard the issues raised by the Freedom Riders as constituting a serious social problem: probably, there are some people in Mississippi who regard these issues as raising a very grave social problem indeed, but who have a diainetrically opposcd notion ns to thc propcr thing to do in coneequence. Or to descend from what we would regard as the rather portentous to the rather trivial, my own first recollection of great concern about a social problem was the violent feelings apparently evoked in members of the Skidmore College faculty (where my parents taught) as to whether the girls should be permitted to smoke or not.