Essays In Pastoral MedicineWalsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Religion
Essays In Pastoral Medicine
Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
First aid in illness and injury; Medicine
The grades of imbecility can not be clearly marked off from one
another, but, roughly speaking, there are three. The lowest grade of
imbeciles understands simple commands, and has a slight manual
dexterity. They express themselves by signs and in monosyllables. They
can not concentrate attention upon anything, nor can they be taught to
read or write. Careful training can advance them so far that they may
do rough, menial work, and they are industrious when directed by a
present superior. They are inclined to masturbation. If they are not
teased, they are quiet; if annoyed, they may become dangerous.
Imbeciles of the middle grade can converse in a narrow vocabulary, and
they commonly stammer. They may be taught to read monosyllables; they
can not do even the simplest sum in addition, yet they show a certain
shrewdness. They are irritable and quarrelsome, inclined to lying and
stealing, and they have no sense of shame. They will not do any
regular work, but change from one occupation to another. They may have
sexual instincts and cause trouble on that account. They are slow to
understand, their memories are defective, and they are always very
vain. Their belly and what they shall wear are the chief things in
their lives. They are less criminal than the highest grade of
imbeciles.
The third class, the high-grade imbecile, is the most important,
because he is commonly a criminal. His intellect is below the average,
and his will is very flabby. He learns little at school, and what he
does learn is acquired slowly. He reads and writes badly and he may be
able to add simple {115} columns of numbers, but he can not multiply
or divide. Sometimes such an imbecile has a remarkable facility in
getting a speaking knowledge of two or three languages, and he may
learn a trade. There is a high-grade imbecile that is cunning and
shrewd, but he has no will, and he is a criminal. As imbeciles
approach the normal in intellect they recede from it in abnormality of
will.
Autopsies on imbeciles show an infantile development of the forebrain.
Imprisonment does no good in these cases. They are not taught anything
in prison, not even a trade, because the labour organisations and the
protected industries will not permit prison labour. They should be
confined so that they will not pervert youth and propagate their kind.
It is impossible to say how far a given imbecile is morally
accountable for what he does, but the accountability is not full in
the best cases. A neurasthenic, however, is not to be mistaken for an
imbecile. A neurasthenic person may have a tender conscience, an
imbecile has no conscience. In imbecility the fault is in the will,
rather than in the intellect, in the middle and highest grades. Many
women, especially, that are hopeless fools intellectually have strong
wills, but an imbecile never has a strong will except in the sense
that stubbornness is strength. Stubbornness is perverted strength.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account