The document reports on five new cases and updates information on 29 previously reported cases regarding mental retardation and the law. Cases are divided into the following categories: classification, commitment, confidentiality, education, employment, protection from harm, sterilization, treatment, and zoning. Listed separately, by the above…

The 1975 census showed that 2,151 juvenile detention and correctional facilities housed more than 76,000 individuals. There was an increase in facilities administered by government agencies, mainly training schools and group homes. Private facilities served almost exlusively as adjuncts of public ranches or group homes. The rates of juveniles to…

Grossman's subjective guidelines for identifying different levels of retardation were translated into a scorable functional behavior checklist and administered to 24 institutionalized mentally retarded Ss (age range 17-to-54 years). The guidelines were arranged into the following seven catagories: self-help skills, physical skills, communication,…

This paper discusses the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the relationship between cognitive abilities and behavioral competencies in elderly institutional residents. The former was assessed by an array of five cognitive measures: two Piagetian tasks, Set Test, WAIS Vocabulary and Digit Span subtests, and the WMS Associate Learning subtest;…

Youths who approved of adventurous, youth-oriented activities were likely to be more involved in delinquent behavior than those who did not, but no relationship was found between approval of more serious offenses and extent of delinquent involvement. Based on questionnaire responses from institutionalized girls in two juvenile reformatories,…

Although the problem of aggression generates considerable social concern, aggressive delinquents are rarely provided with more than minimal treatment following legal processing and incarceration. When treatment is available, it usually consists of some form of ineffective or even counterproductive punishment administered in the context of a token…

The paper describes the Northville (Michigan) Public Schools' program for providing education to approximately 750 handicapped students living in two major residential institutions. Legislation underlying the program's development is reviewed, operation of the educational program is discussed, and statistics on program staff and students are…

This selection of readings is designed to assist correctional managers with their particular concerns such as planning, organizing, understanding the client, and utilizing volunteers. The first article deals generally with the functions and problems of the innovator and planner, without dealing specifically with the correctional setting. The…

Base expectancy tables developed by the California Youth Authority apply to total population of male wards released on parole by the state. Subpopulations of relatively homogeneous make-up offered the possibility of developing base expectancy tables of greater predictive ability. Multiple regression analysis showed the overall advantages and…

Behavior modification as an attack upon the problem of mutism in mongoloid children establishes the basis of the text. Case histories of four children in a state institution present the specific strategy of speech therapy using verbal conditioning. Imitation and attending behavior, verbal chaining, phonetic theory, social reinforcement,…

Described is an Operant Conditioning-Token Economy Program, teaching patients to be responsible for their own behavior, to make choices, and to be motivated to change. The program was instigated with mentally ill patients in a state hospital and was later used with institutionalized mentally handicapped groups. After two years, only four of the…

Data collected on the number of resident patients, total admissions, net releases, and deaths in public institutions for the mentally retarded in the United States from 1950 to 1968 are given. Tables present information on trends of patient movement and administrative data from 1963 to 1968; similar information is presented for each state from…

Evaluated were 430 new juvenile and adult admissions to a state residential facility for the mentally retarded (MR). The study was part of Project CAMIO (Correctional Administration and the Mentally Incompetent Offender), a Texas effort to determine the incidence of criminal incarceration of the MR and to identify laws, procedures, and practices…

Outlined is a course of driver education and traffic safety taught to retarded residents of a state institution. Stressed is the importance of driver education for residents able to leave the institution. The philosophy of the program is given to emphasize individualizing instruction, instructing students who possess the potential for driving,…

Eight papers report on the project at Austin State School, funded by a Hospital Improvement (HIP) grant, which used a multidisciplinary team to implement socialization programs for institutionalized mildly retarded persons exhibiting socially inept behavior. Two papers consider social rehabilitation and the task of trying to move residents out…