Argues that adolescents are not always psychologically mature enough to decide whether or not they need psychiatric treatment. Says that the role of the court should be to assure that adolescents receive adequate treatment, rather than to assure that they consent to treatment. (Author/GC)

Results demonstrated that when compared with normally developing children of the same mental age, the Down's syndrome Ss (6 to 12 years old) evidenced a more homogeneous pattern of syntactic usage and tended to acquire only low-level syntactic structures, as identified by the Developmental Sentence Scoring procedure. (Author)

Reviews children's rights since the Supreme Court's decision that parents retain a substantial, if not the dominant, role in institutionalizing children. (Author/DB)

Thirty-five institutionalized, mentally retarded individuals (17 to 47 years old) navigated an obstacle course while viewing through an optical prism that displaced the visual field (visual-motor rearrangement). The degree of adaptation to visual-motor rearrangement was assessed and compared with scores on a research version of the Adaptive…

Deinstitutionalization of retarded persons is questioned on conceptual, scientific, and moral grounds. (Author)

The sister and parents of a 12-year-old child institutionalized for brain damage disagree regarding the care of the child. Differences stem from the parents' negativity due to the lack of services available when the child was born v the sister's more optimistic attitude which resulted from hearing of new programs without experiencing the defeat…

The Assessment Program Tool is a method of evaluating instructional programs in institutions for the retarded. (DB)

A survey was conducted of all 343 residents placed in the community from a large facility for mentally retarded persons, with social work intervention, over a 14-year period. (Author/IM)

The author presents an historical review of normalization and institutionalization of the retarded in the United States. (SBH)

Examined whether physical restraints are related to decreased social behavior among nursing home residents. Data collected from 112 nursing home residents suggest that low social performance puts resident at risk of being restrained, but more frequently use of restraint hampers resident's performance of social behavior. (Author/NB)

Reviews research which has clarified the needs and problems of adolescents in secure units and has highlighted the relationship between provision offered in child care, penal, and health services. Discusses new research findings, particularly those arising out of studies of young people (n=104) in two youth treatment centers. (Author/ABL)

Psychiatric hospital developed empirically conceived group reminiscence program to evoke use of communication skills by geriatric residents. Goals were to tap into memories of period before patients' onset of dysfunctional mental illness and to prompt positive feelings during guided discussions, thereby allowing for more frequent, appropriate…

The study found that, in a representative sample of large-city newspapers, three issues were most frequently featured in coverage of persons with disabilities. They were: (1) budget, expenditures, or taxes, (2) housing or normalization, and (3) treatment in institutions. (Author/DB)

Presents some sociohistorical concepts about suicide as framework for considering contemporary attitudes among elderly. Includes verbatim report of group therapy session in long-term care facility in which residents openly discuss their feelings about suicide of fellow resident a day earlier. Illustrates importance of emotional outlet, such as…