Feeble-minded

Feeble-minded

The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century through the early 20th century as a loose description of a variety of mental deficiencies, including what would now be considered mental retardation in its various types and grades, and learning disabilities such as dyslexia.

Originally it was not used as a particularly pejorative term and was, along with "idiot" and "moron", considered to be a relatively precise psychiatric label in its day.

The American psychologist Henry H. Goddard, creator of the term "moron", was director of the Vineland Training School (originally the Vineland Training School for Backward and Feeble-minded Children) at Vineland, New Jersey. Goddard was known for postulating most effectively that "feeble-mindedness" was a hereditary trait, most likely caused by a single recessive gene. This led Goddard to ring eugenic alarm bells in his 1912 work, "", about those in the population who carried the recessive trait despite outward appearances of normality.

In the first half of the 20th century, "feeble-mindedness, in any of its grades" was a common criterion for compulsory sterilization in many U.S. states.

Jack London's 1914 story, "Told in the Drooling Ward," describes inmates at a California institution for the "feeble-minded." Such an institution existed (the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children, now the Sonoma Developmental Center) close to the Jack London Ranch in Glen Ellen, California. The story is a narrative told from the point of view of a self-styled "high-grade feeb".

ee also

* Buck v. Bell
* Mental retardation
* Stupidity
* Walter E. Fernald State School

External links

* [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/Writings/TurtlesTasman/ward.html Told In the Drooling Ward] Text of the Jack London story.


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  • feeble-minded — adj 1.) stupid or not sensible ▪ a feeble minded policy 2.) old use having much less than average intelligence >feeble mindedness n [U] …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Feeble-minded — Fee ble mind ed, a. Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile. comfort the feeble minded. 1 Thess. v. 14. {Fee ble mind ed*ness}, n. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • feeble-minded — feeble mindedly, adv. feeble mindedness, n. /fee beuhl muyn did/, adj. 1. lacking the normal mental powers. 2. Med. (formerly) mentally retarded. Cf. idiot, imbecile, moron. 3 …   Universalium

  • feeble-minded — index non compos mentis Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • feeble-minded — adjective 1. ) stupid 2. ) OFFENSIVE with a lower than average level of intelligence …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • feeble-minded — ► ADJECTIVE 1) foolish; stupid. 2) dated having less than average intelligence …   English terms dictionary

  • feeble-minded — adjective 1 unable to think clearly and decide what to do: Her husband s so feeble minded he won t do a thing unless she tells him to. 2 old use having much less than average intelligence feeble mindedly adverb feeble mindedness noun (U) …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • feeble-minded — adj feeble, Inf. weak in the head, weak minded, deficient, subnormal, retarded, slow; slow witted, dull, dull witted, stupid, Inf. dumb, foolish; empty headed, blank, vacant, vacuous, Sl. having nobody home, Sl. empty upstairs. See foolish(def3) …   A Note on the Style of the synonym finder

  • feeble-minded — I (Roget s IV) modif. Syn. retarded, simple minded, foolish, senile; see dull 3 . II (Roget s Thesaurus II) adjective Offensive. Having only a limited ability to learn and understand: backward, dull, simple, simple minded, slow, slow witted.… …   English dictionary for students

  • feeble-minded — adjective Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy; lacking intelligence; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile. See Also: feeble mindedly, feeble mindedness …   Wiktionary

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