Fifty previously institutionalized educable retarded adults were retested approximately 3 years after discharge to ascertain if community living produced a change in IQ or academic achievement, measured by the WAIS and Metropolitan Achievement Battery. (Author)

Reported in the fourth of six documents, are the community experiences of 440 deinstitutionalized mentally retarded persons. Information is said to be drawn from questionnaires and family interviews. Data is reported in tables and text for the following 10 topic areas (subtopics in parentheses): client characteristics (demographic and functioning…

The effects of labels, "mentally retarded" and "institutionalized" on the evaluations and causal attributions of nonretarded persons, and on the social distance preferences of EMR persons, were assessed. In addition, each group was asked to predict the likelihood of a labeled (mentally retarded) or a nonlabeled target person achieving success at a…

This paper presents the Realizing Opportunities for Self Exploration (ROSE) program for noninstitutionalized older adults and older adults in nursing home settings. The ROSE program is described in detail, including: (1) use of creative excercise and body movements; (2) stress reduction practices such as meditation; (3) self-awareness, social…

This paper presents observational and research evidence to refute two widely held beliefs about psychological development: the belief in predetermined development and the belief in the simultaneous development of all behavioral systems. Studies suggesting the plasticity of development through environmental deprivation and intervention are…

The Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Test was designed to measure the attitudes and knowledge of retarded individuals in fourteen areas: (1) anatomy/terminology; (2) dating; (3) marriage; (4) intimacy; (5) intercourse; (6) pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing; (8) masturbation; (9) homosexuality; (10) alcohol and drugs; (11) community risks…

One of the major problems in measuring community mental health status is the lack of consensus among mental health workers in psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and epidemiology as to what constitutes mental illness. Additionally, changing social mores preclude a definition of mental illness in behavioral terms. An operational definition of mental…

The role played by stress in the prognosis of schizophrenia is not entirely clear. It has been suggested that high premorbid stress levels before first-time psychiatric admission for schizophrenia will be related to better outcome. Subjects, first-time psychiatric admissions classified as schizophrenic by either Schneider's First Rank Symptoms,…

This research questions the frequent observation that elderly persons in long-term care institutions are isolated from their families, and that institutionalization is the final step in the breakdown of family relations. Data consisted of open-ended interviews with institutionalized elderly parents and with the child most involved with the parent…

A five-month ethnographic study of conversations in a Philadelphia nursing home revealed some of the rules governing situationally appropriate conversational behavior. The social communicational perspective of the study differed from both psychological and discourse analysis approaches. Analysis of the data indicated that sustained…

This IRCD Bulletin issue contains two brief papers. One, on contingency management, describes the application of this aspect of operant conditioning theory to the manipulation of behavior through reinforcement methods. Examples of the technique of managing high and low probability behaviors are offered as it is used with preschool children,…

The purpose of this study was to see if a change in environment affected the rate of sensorimotor development in infants. First a control group of institutionally-reared infants aged 1 to 6 months was observed to determine average age of visually directed reaching, visual exploration, visual accommodation, and the blink response. Then the…

A survey was made of 1730 psychiatric patients who had been discharged into the community. Of the 1730, more were females (69%), but disorders among men were more severe. Three groups of cases were identified: the most severe, composed of persons poorly established in the community, most frequently single unskilled males and often diagnosed…

This paper examines the major conflicts and stresses which surround the coming of age in rural Ireland today and which commonly contribute to mental breakdown. The study is based on ten months of participant observation in an Irish-speaking village of Southwest Kerry, combined with weekly visits to the county mental hospital. The author uses a…

Provided is a computer summary of the ratings and prescriptive suggestions on the Adaptive Behavior Checklist (ABCL) for a 5-year-old severely retarded, physically handicapped institutionalized boy. The ABCL is explained to measure basic (general motor and sensory development), primary (conceptual and language development), and secondary (social…