American Association on Mental Retardation. P.O. Box 7065, Lawrence, KS 66044-7065. Tel: 785-843-1235; Fax: 785-843-1274; e-mail: AJMR@allenpress.com; Web site: http://www.aamr.org/Periodicals/index.shtml.
Publication Date:
2004-00-00
Pages:
12
Pub Types:
Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Abstract:
The eugenics era (c. 1900?1930) produced a strong desire among mental retardation professionals to recognize and control "the feeble-minded." Some eugenicists believed it was possible to classify individuals visually by learning to recognize what they believed to be observable characteristics of idiocy and imbecility. In this paper I used qualitative methods to examine the visual classification scheme developed by Martin Barr and conclude that most of this classification scheme is a social construction that was reliant on modes of presentation, such as clothing and photographic style, which had very little to do with any inherent feeble-mindedness.
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