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Visiting the Mentally Handicapped in Residential Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Julian Colledge*
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ

Summary

Various characteristics of residents of a large hospital for the mentally handicapped were investigated in order to find any associations between these characteristics and the frequency of visiting by parents. The findings suggest that early attachment of the parents to the subjects is of more importance for visiting than present skills and behaviour. The most frequently visited subjects were more likely to recognize people, have some speech and have had a normal appearance as a baby. The unvisited subjects were more likely to have been born with an abnormal appearance and into homes with pre-existing social and emotional problems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980 

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