Treatment Of Mentally Disabled People

In the year 2024 in American law every citizen (excluding felons and prisoners) is supposed to have equal rights and free will, however we all know it wasn’t always this way, slavery only ended around 150 years ago, and women only gained the right to vote around 100 years ago. I’m fairly certain most people would know this history of injustice and exclusion isn’t exclusive to America and goes as far back as we have historical evidence. Usually, when this part of history is talked about people tend to discuss a specific race, religion, or gender however what is just as important and seems to be discussed far less is the history of the treatment of the mentally disabled. Perhaps this is because our definition and understanding of mental disability is still changing as a society or maybe it’s because it’s harder for the majority of the population to relate to people with mental disabilities. I think this overlooked part of our history is just as important to learn as the rest of it. 

Unfortunately, there are many examples of the brutal treatment of the mentally disabled as far back as history goes.“Spartan law mandated the practice of killing newborns who had been born with deformities”(Albrecht, 15), in ancient greece the same brutality was enforced “Infants with deformities were sometimes perceived to represent the anger of the gods, and murdering such babies was a sacrifice intended to mollify the gods”(Albrecht, 15) these are two of the more well known examples of this kind of treatment and while these two examples are particularly brutal there is still many more examples of the terrible treatment of mentally disabled people throughout history. Oftentime, the mentally disabled were kept as slaves for manual labor or in some rare occasions were kept as slaves used for entertainment similar to a jester. For a long stretch of history there was no differentiation between peoples with mental illness and peoples with mental disability and often both groups were sent away and permanently kept in asylums. Differentiation between these groups wasn’t widespread until the 19th century “Superintendents of asylums for the mentally ill were among the first in the United States to call for separate provisions for people with intellectual disabilities. Reflecting on the path breaking developments in Europe, Samuel Woodward, superintendent of the Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts, and Amariah Brigham of New York’s Bloomingdale facility both recommended in their 1845 annual state hospital reports that their states should make a public educational provision for children and youth with intellectual disabilities” (Albrecht, 36). One of the most upsetting displays of treatment towards these people were in “Freak Shows”, these shows were basically a sort of human zoo, showing off mentally disabled and deformed peoples to paying customers in order to shock and humor them. “These exhibits were extremely popular at circuses, fairs, and expositions. People with disabilities who were displayed at freak shows were frequently “sold” to the show organizers, who maintained the right to display them for the duration of their lives`”(Albrecht, 38). More barbaric displays happened in America only about 100 years ago with the rise of the eugenics movement. Eugenics is a philosophy advocating for the advancement of the human race by reproducing in order to create the “best” and “most desirable” genetics. The eugenics movement in 1900s America reached its peak with the 1927 U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Buck v. Bell which affirmed the states “right to sterilize people with intellectual disabilities” (Albrecht, 40). 

As stated earlier, often the difference between mental illness and mental disability was not defined and those peoples were often grouped together. Reforms would come in the mid 1800s through John Langdon Down, a British physician. John observed people in the “Earlswood Asylum for Idiots” he is most famous for researching and somewhat discovering what is now called Down syndrome (called mongolism at the time). John Langdon Down fought to separate the mentally ill and the mentally disabled in order to provide better care for both parties “In lunatic asylums, Down contended, ‘the entire machinery is adapted for another class of patients, and the idiot residents forming but a small proportion, they are for the most part overlooked in the general routine of the establishment.” It seems as our understanding of mental disability improves so does our treatment of people with mental disabilities. 

In modern times we tend to treat the mentally disabled much more humanely than any other time in history. There are programs/institutions that help both people with mental disabilities and their families like the special olympics and NDSS (National Down Syndrome Society). One inspiring example of this is “Bitty and Beau’s”. Bitty and Beau’s describes themselves as “Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop”, the franchise chooses to hire employees with mental disabilities. People with intellectual disabilities face a staggering around 70% unemployment rate. Bitty’s and Beaus seek to change that and “help people with disabilities find meaning, create value, and connect with their communities through work”. Not only does Bitty and Beau’s help disabled people by employing them and providing them with a community, they also seek to change stereotypes and prejudices against them by way of inclusion and showing the world that people with mental disabilities can be just as capable as the rest of the population. Bitty and Beau’s is one of the more successful programs towards this, starting as just one shop in 2016 with 19 employees to expanding to over 20 locations and employing more than 400 people with intellectual disabilities. 

I think oftentime people with mental disabilities are often unfairly and unjustly stereotyped and undermined especially in history. It seems we are moving in the right direction in modern day towards really fully respecting and valuing the intellectually disabled population. 

Works Cited

Wright, David. Downs : The History of a Disability. Oxford University Press, 2011.

Albrecht, Gary L., et al. Handbook of Disability Studies. Sage Publications, 2001, https://doi.org/10.4135/978-1-41297-625-1.

“National Snapshot of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in the Labor Force.” SpecialOlympics.Org, 2 Aug. 2018, http://www.specialolympics.org/our-work/research/national-snapshot-of-adults-with-intellectual-disabilities-in-the-labor-force#:~:text=Study%20 Findings,are%20in%20the%20labor%20force. 

“Our Story – about: Bitty & Beau’s Coffee.” Bitty and Beau’s Coffee, 31 Dec. 2023, http://www.bittyandbeauscoffee.com/about/our-story/.