Table Of ContentFACTORS INFLUENCING THE RETURN OF SIX MENTALLY
DEFICIENT GIRLS TO AN INSTITUTION FOLLOWING
INDEFINITE LEAVE
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of S ocial Work of
The U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P artial Fulfillm ent
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of S ocial Work
by
P atricia Anne Holderman
June 1951
UMI Number: EP66387
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UMI EP66387
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Su>- . S i H 7i7.
This thesis, written under the direction of the
candidate’s Faculty Committee and approved
by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Faculty of the Graduate School
of Social Work in partial fulfilment of the re
quirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK
............
Dean
D a tD m P ...^ . j4 5 )
(I ~
'
Thesis of Pa^r i'c^a Anne H olderm an
Faculty Committee
.....
Chairman
......
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I . INTRODUCTION......................................................................................... 1
The Problem . . . . . . . . . 1
Scope of S tu d y ....................................................................... 8
S ettin g .................................................................... 10
Method of Case S election . ...........................11
Sources of Case M aterial..........................................................12
D efin ition of Leaves. • • • . • • • • • • • • 14
Plan of T h esis..............................................• • • • • • • 14
II . SIX CASE STUDIES................................................................................16
Introduction. ............................................................................. 16
Case of Katherine Gustov............................................ 16
Case of Margeruite Martinez ............................ 22
Case of Betty Marquetti ....................................27
Case of S ally M artin. 34
Case of Jane Adams............................. 41
Case of Sara B o n d .......................................................................48
II I. ANALYSIS OP THE CASES.....................................................................56
Introduction. • • • • ......................... 56
Some Outstanding Considerations in the
G irls1 H istories Prior to Commitment. . . . 58
In stitu tio n a l Experience................................... 60
Parent-Child R elationships While on
Leave of Absence. ............................................. 63
i l l
■ CHAPTER PAGE
Some Problematic Aspects in the Home
Leave* .......................................... .................................. • 66
Community Adjustment • * .................................................. 67
IV* SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......................... 71
Recapitulation* • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 71
In stitu tio n a l Program* ...............................................74
Community R o l e ............................. 78
Suggestions for Further Study. . . . . . . . . 81
BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................84
1
CHAPTER I
I
INTRODUCTION
I,. THE PROBLEM
il
I
: Mental d eficien cy has long been a w ell known so c ia l
; problem. With the beginning of the tw entieth century there
was a marked expansion and u tiliz a tio n of in stitu tio n s for
the protection of society from the menace of mental d e fic-
i
ien cy. Inspite of th is increase in custod ial f a c ilit ie s ,
the number of persons in need of in stitu tio n a l care con
tinues to out-number, by fa r , the in stitu tio n s available
I
to them. This makes i t necessary to consider the d e fin i- j
, tion of mental deficien cy carefu lly.
There is a great deal of descrepancy in the d e fin i
tion of mental d eficien cy. Edgar D oll offers as a d e fin i- !
i tio n , that mental deficien cy is Ma sta te of so cia l incom
petence, obtained at m aturity, or lik e ly to obtain at
m aturity, resu ltin g from developmental arrest of in t e lli-
; gence because of con stitu tion al (hereditary or acquired) !
1 i
o r i g i n . I n regard to treatment he goes on to say that
th is condition is e sse n tia lly incurable and irrem ediable
1 Edgar D o ll, ^D efinitions of Mental D eficien cy,tt
Training; School B u lletin . V ol. 37, March-February 1940-
1941, p. 164.
\
j except as treatment and training in stitu te habits which
compensate for the personfs lim ita tio n s. C ustodial care,
then, would be applicable assuming that the m entally
d eficien t person has the in a b ility to manage his own
i
a ffa irs and has needibr supervision requiring suitable i
• so c ia l p rotection • Without th is control the m entally
i
; d eficien t (so affected) person becomes a burden on his
fam ily or a disrupting influence to so c ie ty . That i s , in 1
terms of the larger so c ia l picture the commitment of the
j
mental d efective is ane xpression of h is to ta l adjustment t
in the community. The person #10 has not been able to !
adjust to community standards therefore stands a very good :
chance of being commited to a custodial in stitu tio n . F irst
he becomes a problem at home or school or perhaps in the
neighborhood* Then without success ordinary methods of \
1
handling the situ a tio n are tr ie d , as for example, referral ]
i
1 to a so c ia l agency or ch ild re n s court. The person is |
j examined and found to be subnormal. Often without a really
! exhaustive study of the case, he is sent to an in stitu tio n .
This attitu d e with respect to In stitu tio n a liza tio n of the
mental d efectiv e, is apparent in the leg a l d efin ition that
i is inscribed in the h i of the State of C alifornia as the
basis for commitment to the sta te in stitu tio n s for mental
I
d efectiv es. The C alifornia State Welfare Code Section 5250,1
3
, sta tes:
**Mentally d eficien t persons** means those persons,
not psychotic, who are so m entally retarded from
infancy or before reaching m aturity that they are
incapable o f managing themselves and th eir affairs
independently, with ordinary prudence, or of being j
taugjit to do so, and who require supervision, con
tr o l, and care for th eir own w elfare, or for the
welfare of others, or for the welfare of the com-
‘ m unity.2
I
These d efin itio n s are very broad and make no allow -
i
, ances for the breakdown of mental d eficien cy, indicated in j
t
1 the c la ssific a tio n s of ^moron,** **imbicile ,** and 11 id io t .** j
!
Compared with ^idiot*1 and tfimbecile*1 resp ectively for the j
lower grades of d eficien cy, the *fmoronw has the highest I
!
range of in te llig e n c e .
The b e lie f that ^morons** make a fa ir degree of
adjustment in the community is apparent in the works of
Wyers and Tarjan who point out that the moron mental de-
i
; fectiv e represents approximately seventy fiv e percent of
a ll mental d efectiv es, with the m ajority liv in g in the j
community as u sefu l members of so c ie ty .5 Their experience!
at P acific Colony, a State h osp ital for mental d efectiv es,
2 Welfare and In stitu tio n s Code and Laws R elating
to S ocial W elfare. State of C alifornia (Sacramento:
Bureau of P rinting, Documents D ivision , 1947), p. 205.
3 Robert E. Wyers and George Tar jan, ** Administra
tive Practices to Provide B etter P sychiatric Care for Men
ta l D efectives,*1 American Journal of Mental D eficiency.
LIV: 31-37, July 1949.
4
in d icates that a moron is seldom in stitu tio n a lized because
of h is low mental functioning alone* More often in stitu
tio n a liza tio n comes as a resu lt of some a n ti-so c ia l be
havior. I t becomes obvious that mental deficien cy and the ,
problems of so ciety are not d irectly related as cause and |
i
e ffe c t. In stitu tio n s can be known as a resource for train-j
ing for the d efective to enable him to return to his place |
in the community. This might suggest thoughtful consider- j
i
ation of the r ela tiv e values of in stitu tio n a l care versus
fam ily and community supervision from the standpoint of
to ta l so c ia l economy and the individual w elfare of the
mental d e fec tiv e. !
• I
Because of the pressure o f applicants for admis
sion to the lim ited number of in stitu tio n s, there develops ,
an added incen tive to afford patients the opportunity to 1
make a sa tisfa cto ry adjustment outside of these f a c i l i
tie s . In a recent declaration of the goals and program j
of the Department of Mental Hygiene in the State of j
C alifornia, one of the aims for p atien t care is se t forth j
as fo llo w s: !
i
To provide convalescent treatm ent in the com- j
munity through the best possible casework at home,
at work, or in fam ily care, so that improvement
sh a ll continue uninterruptedly by helping the
p atient adjust through the growth of more su ccessfu l
inter-personal relation sh ip s.^
j This may w ell be considered as one of the important goals
for the sta ff members at P acific Colony,^ who expend a j
great deal of effo rt and exploration in planning for the ,
i
I p a tien t’s return to the community*
| The sta ff at P acific Colony are w ell aware of the
■ fa ct that a ll m entally d eficien t people are not in need of
in stitu tio n a l care and as Stanley Davis points out: j
i
Any in stitu tio n for mental d efectives not re- !
s tr ie ted to low grade cases, which aims to do con
strue tuve work with human m aterial which comes to it s
hands, w ill find a certain number who have responded
favorably to i t s so c ia liz in g influence that they j
seem deserving of another chance in the outside
world. The previous fa ilu re of these persons have ;
been due largely to unwholesome environmental in - 1
flu en ces, the new tr ia l must take place in community
environment over which the in stitu tio n has control.6
In agreement with th is thinking the s ta ff are concerned j
' with the. success and fa ilu re of the In d efin ite leave pro- j
gram which is designated to return to the community, j
i I
! patients #10 have been in stitu tio n a liz ed . The in d efin ite I
i !
! leaves are so called because there is no sp ec ific time
^ G-oals and Program. Department of Mental Hygiene,
State of C alifornia (Sacramento: Bureau of Printing) ,
January 1951*
5
A State H ospital for Mental D efectives, maintain
ed by the State of C alifornia, Spadra C alifornia*
6 Stanley P. D avis, S ocial Control of the M entally
D eficien t (Hew York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 19307,
p. 291* __________________________ _
