Imbecile
Archaic psychiatric term to denote intellectual disability
The term imbecile was once used by psychiatrists to denote a category of people with moderate to severe intellectual disability , as well as a type of criminal. [1] [2] The word arises from the Latin word imbecillus , meaning weak, or weak-minded. [3] It originally referred to people of the second order in a former and discarded classification of intellectual disability, with a mental age of three to seven years and an IQ of 25–50, above " idiot " (IQ below 25) and below " moron " (IQ of 51–70). [4] In the obsolete medical classification ( ICD-9 , 1977), these people were said to have "moderate mental retardation " or "moderate mental subnormality" with IQ of 35–49, as they are usually capable of some degree of communication, guarding themselves against danger and performing simple mechanical tasks under supervision. [5] [6]
The meaning was further refined into mental and moral imbecility. [7] [8] The concepts of "moral insanity", " moral idiocy ", and "moral imbecility" led to the emerging field of eugenic criminology , which held that crime can be reduced by preventing " feeble-minded " people from reproducing. [9] [10]
"Imbecile" as a concrete classification was popularized by psychologist Henry H. Goddard [11] and was used in 1927 by United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in his ruling in the forced-sterilization case Buck v. Bell , 274 U.S. 200 (1927). [12]
The concept is closely associated with psychology , psychiatry , criminology , and eugenics . However, the term imbecile quickly passed into vernacular usage as a derogatory term. It fell out of professional use in the 20th century in favor of mental retardation . [13]
Phrases such as "mental retardation", "mentally retarded", and " retarded " are also subject to the euphemism treadmill : initially used in a medical manner, they gradually took on derogatory connotation . This had occurred with the earlier synonyms (for example, moron , imbecile , cretin , and idiot , formerly used as scientific terms in the early 20th century). Professionals searched for connotatively neutral replacements. In the United States, " Rosa's Law " changed references in many federal statutes to "mental retardation" to refer instead to "intellectual disability". [14]
References
- ↑ Fernald, Walter E. (1912). The imbecile with criminal instincts. Fourth edition. Boston: Ellis. OCLC 543795982 .
- ↑ Duncan, P. Martin; Millard, William (1866). A manual for the classification, training, and education of the feeble-minded, imbecile, and idiotic. Longmans, Green, and Co.
- ↑ Chisholm, Hugh , ed. (1911). "Imbecile" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 331.
- ↑ Sternberg, Robert J. (2000). Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge University Press . ISBN 978-0-521-59648-0 .
- ↑ World Health Organization (1977). Manual of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries, and Causes of Death (PDF) . Vol. 1. Jeneva. p. 212.
- ↑ "Definition of imbecile | Dictionary.com" . www.dictionary.com .
- ↑ Kerlin, Isaac N. (1889). "Moral imbecility". Proceedings of the Association of Medical Officers of American Institutions for Idiotic and Feeble-minded Persons , 15–18.
- ↑ Fernald, Walter E. (1 April 1909). "The imbecile with criminal instincts" . American Journal of Psychiatry . 65(4):731–749.
- ↑ Rafter, Nicole Hahn (1998). Creating Born Criminals. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06741-9 .
- ↑ Tredgold, A. F. (1921). "Moral Imbecility". Proc R Soc Med , 1921; 14(Sect Psych): 13–22.
- ↑ Goddard, Henry Herbert (1915). The Criminal Imbecile; an Analysis of Three Remarkable Murder Cases . New York: The Macmillan Company.
- ↑ Lombardo, Paul A. (2008). Three Generations, No Imbeciles: Eugenics, the Supreme Court, and Buck V. Bell. JHU Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-9010-9
- ↑ Kaplan, Robert M.; Saccuzzo, Dennis P. (2008). Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, and Issues. Cengage Learning, ISBN 978-0-495-09555-2
- ↑ Sweet, Lynn (October 5, 2010). " Obama signs 'Rosa's Law;' 'mental retardation' out, 'intellectual disability' in Archived January 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine ". Chicago Sun-Times .