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Mental Retardation

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Handbook of Child Psychopathology

Abstract

Mental retardation is a social construct devised to categorize individuals with a variety of symptoms, etiologies, and outcomes. Most definitions of mental retardation include deficits in learning and social adaptation, and the disorder is typically viewed within a life-span developmental context, ecology, and culture of the individual. Given that notions of mental retardation are not universal, our understanding of the disorder is predicated on the prevailing beliefs, attitudes, and values of our particular culture. Thus, what we mean by the term mental retardation varies between and even within cultures (Singh, 1995a). How we define the term and view individuals with the disorder are important considerations because policies, resource allocation, prevention, treatment, and care practices follow directly from our assumptions of the capabilities of individuals with mental retardation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, 23298-0489, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh, Donald P. Oswald & Cynthia R. Ellis

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  1. Nirbhay N. Singh
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  2. Donald P. Oswald
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  3. Cynthia R. Ellis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

    Thomas H. Ollendick

  2. School of Professional Psychology, Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, USA

    Michel Hersen

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Singh, N.N., Oswald, D.P., Ellis, C.R. (1998). Mental Retardation. In: Ollendick, T.H., Hersen, M. (eds) Handbook of Child Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5905-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5905-4_4

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