James W. Trent uses public documents, private letters, investigative reports, and rare photographs to explore our changing perceptions of mental retardation over the past 150 years. He contends that the economic vulnerability of mentally retarded people (and their families), more than the claims made for their intellectual or social limitations, has determined their institutional treatment.
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Editorial Reviews
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"This well-written history of mental retardation documents our changing perceptions of the 'feebleminded.' . . . This is must reading for anyone interested in this vital subject. Replete with shocking photographs and a 40-page reference list. A shattering document."--"Psychoanalytic Books
About the Author
James W. Trent, Jr. is Associate Professor of Sociology and Social Work at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This was the best book on this topic I ever read.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States (Medicine and Society) (Paperback)
I spent a good deal of time in libraries looking for information that was ALL CONTAINED IN THIS BOOK. Trent does an amazing job of piecing together a social/medical history of mental retardation. No medical book, no first person type accounts, no histories of institutionalization touched this book. This book draws from all the different disciplines to present a complete picture (as good history books do). It is highly readable and engaging. It's academic and rigorous yet entertaining. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
COMPREHENSIVE, EXCELLENT HISTORY,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States (Medicine and Society) (Paperback)
James Trent has written an excellent comprehensive history of mental retardation in the U.S. Readers will also find pertinent photographs, and a full bibiography. This volume is a resource for students, human-services professionals, and historians. I highly recommend it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's superb!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States (Medicine and Society) (Paperback)
I have been teaching classes on the history of residential facilities in America for several years. This book brings a new light to me, and to all of us who work for people with disabilities.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
All postrevolutionary Americans knew feebleminded people. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
productive idiots, educating idiots, physiological education, mental health lobby, unsorted letters, feebleminded people, juvenile insanity, custodial cases, total institutionalization, adult idiots, institutional superintendents, most superintendents, mentally deficient people, feebleminded women, fellow superintendents, social welfare authorities, educated idiots, des idiots, several superintendents, other superintendents, simple idiots, idiot school, feebleminded persons, feeble minds, retarded people Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pennsylvania Training School, American Association, United States, Letchworth Village, Illinois Asylum, Association of Medical Officers, New Jersey, Civil War, National Conference, Hervey Wilbur, Illinois General Assembly, Charles Wilbur, Walter Fernald, Elwyn Institute, Eugenics Record Office, Martin Barr, Alexander Johnson, Charles Davenport, Courtesy of Southern Illinois University, Great Depression, Lovejoy Library, Margaret Bourke-White, Public Law, Rome State School New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
All postrevolutionary Americans knew feebleminded people. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
productive idiots, educating idiots, physiological education, mental health lobby, unsorted letters, feebleminded people, juvenile insanity, custodial cases, total institutionalization, adult idiots, institutional superintendents, most superintendents, mentally deficient people, feebleminded women, fellow superintendents, social welfare authorities, educated idiots, des idiots, several superintendents, other superintendents, simple idiots, idiot school, feebleminded persons, feeble minds, retarded people Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Pennsylvania Training School, American Association, United States, Letchworth Village, Illinois Asylum, Association of Medical Officers, New Jersey, Civil War, National Conference, Hervey Wilbur, Illinois General Assembly, Charles Wilbur, Walter Fernald, Elwyn Institute, Eugenics Record Office, Martin Barr, Alexander Johnson, Charles Davenport, Courtesy of Southern Illinois University, Great Depression, Lovejoy Library, Margaret Bourke-White, Public Law, Rome State School New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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52
books
cite this book:
See all 52 books citing this book
- Mental Retardation by Journal on 16 pages
- A Mind That Found Itself by Clifford Whittingham Beers on page 133, page 179, and Back Matter
- Biographical Dictionary of Social Welfare in America by Walter I. Trattner in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Angel Unaware: A Touching Story of Love and Loss by Dale Evans Rogers on page 260, page 262, and Back Matter
- The Kallikak Family (Classics in psychology) by Henry Herbert Goddard on page 163, page 168, and page 209
See all 100 books this book cites
- Making Medical Decisions for the Profoundly Mentally Disabled (Basic Bioethics) by Norman L. Cantor in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Inventing the Criminal: A History of German Criminology, 1880-1945 (Studies in Legal History) by Richard F. Wetzell on page 102, page 156, and Back Matter
- Science and Other Cultures: Issues in Philosophies of Science and Technology by Sandra Harding on page 169, and page 171
- Taming the Troublesome Child: American Families, Child Guidance, and the Limits of Psychiatric Authority by Kathleen W. Jones in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Mental Illness and Learning Disability since 1850: Finding a Place for Mental Disorder in the United Kingdom (Routledge Studies in the Social History of Medicine) by Joseph Melling on page 131, and page 151
See all 52 books citing this book
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