Intellectual disabilities across cultures

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511543609.037

35 - Intellectual disabilities across cultures

from Part V - Management with special groups

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2009

Jean O'Hara and

Nick Bouras

Edited by

Dinesh Bhugra and

Kamaldeep Bhui

Show author details

Jean O'Hara: Affiliation:
York Clinic 47 Weston Street Guy's Hospital London SE1 3RR UK
Nick Bouras: Affiliation:
King's College London Institute of Psychiatry The Estia Centre York Clinic – Guy's Hospital 47 Weston Street London SE1 3RR UK
Dinesh Bhugra: Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
Kamaldeep Bhui: Affiliation:
Barts & The London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry

Book contents

Get access

Summary

EDITORS' INTRODUCTION

Learning disability, which is still known by the term mental retardation in many parts of the world, carries additional psychiatric morbidity with it. Not only are there implications for the individual but also for the carers and the community alike. Cultural practices such as consanguineous marriages may play a role in the aetiology of learning or intellectual disabilities. Other environmental factors, such as dietary deficiencies, may contribute to its causation. Rarely are these individuals seen as suffering from medical conditions, and thus help-seeking may be delayed. Co-morbidity with infections like cysticercosis and epilepsy make management of such individuals complex. The social relationships and educational attainments may influence outcome.

O'Hara and Bouras use the term intellectual disability as a complex label which involves an interaction between biogenetic and socio-cultural factors. The labelling of the condition is powerful and can result in an individual being excluded from mainstream society. Increased social distance without adequate management strategies with educational and psychological components means that individuals can become further isolated. O'Hara and Bouras point to historical evidence indicating how people with disabilities were seen over four millennia ago. The social response was partly determined by religion. Negative views towards individuals with disabilities have been reported for centuries. As social and gender roles of individuals vary across cultures, the concepts of social inclusion remain simply that – concepts only – in many cultures. Epidemiological data on prevalence of intellectual disability across cultures indicate differences which can be attributed to a number of factors. Mild intellectual disability is much more prevalent.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry , pp. 461 - 470

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543609.037 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Agrawal, R. (1994) India. In Comparative Studies in Special Education, ed. Mazurel, K. & Winzer, M.Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press. Quoted from Gabel (2004). Mental Retardation, 42(1), 19.

Aminidav, C. and Weller, L. (1995). Effects of country of origin, sex, religiosity and social class on breadth of knowledge of mental retardation. British Journal of Developmental Disabilities, XL1(80), 48–56.Google Scholar

Azmi, S., Hatton, C., Emerson, E.et al. (1997). Listening to adolescents and adults with intellectual disability in South Asian communities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability, 10, 250–263.Google Scholar

Berger, M. (1982). The ‘Scientific Approach’ to intelligence: an overview of its history with special reference to mental speed. In A Model For Intelligence, ed. Eysenck, H. J.Berlin: Springer, pp. 13–43.

Berkson, G. (2004). Intellectual and physical disabilities in prehistory and early civilization. Mental Retardation, 42(3), 195–208.Google Scholar

Bhugra, D., Hilwig, M., Hussein, B.et al. (1996). First contact incidence rates of schizophrenia in Trinidad and one year follow up. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 587–592.Google Scholar

Bhugra, D., Leff, J., Mallett, R.et al. (1997). Incidence and outcome of schizophrenia in Whites, African-Carribeans and Asians in London. Psychological Medicine, 27, 791–798.Google Scholar

Bradsher, J. E. (1996). Disability among racial and ethnic groups. Disability Statistics Abstract No 10. US Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), USA.

Chaplin, R. H., Thorp, C., Ismail, I. A.et al. (1996). Psychiatric disorder in Asian adults with learning disabilities: patterns of service use. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 40(4), 298–304.CrossRef Google Scholar

Cheng, P. and Tang, So-Kum C. (1995). Coping and psychological distress of Chinese parents of children with Down's Syndrome. Mental Retardation, 33(1), 10–20.Google Scholar

Cooper, S.-A. (1997). Psychiatry of elderly compared to younger adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability 10(4), 303–311.Google Scholar

Cowley, A., Holt, G., Bouras, N.et al. (2004). Descriptive psychopathology in people with mental retardation. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192(3), 232–237.Google Scholar

Deb, S. (2001). Epidemiology of psychiatric illness in adults with intellectual disability. In Health Evidence Bulletins – Learning Disabilities ed. Hamilton-Kirkwood, L., Ahmed, Z., Deb, S.et al. pp. 48–55. http://hebw.uwcm.ac.uk

Deb, S., Matthews, T., Holt, G. and Bouras, N. (2001). Practice Guidelines for the Assessment and Diagnosis of Mental Health Problems in Adults with Intellectual Disability. European Association for Mental Health in Mental Retardation. Brighton: Pavilion.

Department of Health (2001). Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability in the 21st Century. London: HMSO.

Department of Health (2004). Learning Difficulties and Ethnicity: a framework for action. London: HMSO.

Department of Health (2005). Adults with Learning Difficulties in England 2003/4. Full survey report. London: HMSO.

Diligio (2005). http://www.diligio.com.

Doody, G. A., Johnstone, E. C., Sanderson, T. L., Owens, Cunningham D. G. and Muir, W. J (1998). ‘Propfschizophrenie’ revisited: schizophrenia in people with mild learning disability. British Journal of Psychiatry, 173, 145–153.Google Scholar

Edgerton, R. B. (1984). Anthropology and mental retardation: research approaches and opportunities. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 8, 25–48.Google Scholar

El-Shamy, H. M. (1980). Folktales of Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 179.

Emerson, E. (2004). Poverty and children with intellectual disabilities in the world's richer countries. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 29, 319–338.Google Scholar

Emerson, E and Robertson, J. (2002). Future Demand for Services for Young Adults with Learning Disabilities from South Asian and Black Communities in Birmingham. Lancaster University: Institute of Health Research.

Emerson, E., Azmi, S., Hatton, C., Caine, A., Parrott, R. and Wolstenholme, J. (1997). Is there an increased prevalence of severe learning disabilities among British Asians?Ethnicity and Health, 2, 317–321.Google Scholar

Fearon, P., Jones, P. B., Kennedy, N.et al. (2004). Raised incidence of psychosis in all migrant groups in South London, Nottingham and Bristol: the ÆSOP study. Schizophrenia Research, 67(Suppl. 1), 15.Google Scholar

Fujiura, G. T., Park, H.J and Rutkowski-Kmitta, V. (2005). Disability statistics in the developing world: a reflection on the meanings in our numbers. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disability, 18, 295–304.CrossRef Google Scholar

Gabel, S. (2004). South Asian Indian cultural orientations toward mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 42, 12–25.Google Scholar

Garland, R. (1995). The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Goodman, R. and Richards, H. (1995) Child and adolescent psychiatric presentations of second-generation Afro-Caribbeans in Britain. British Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 362–369.Google Scholar

Harris-White, B. (2003). Staying Poor: Chronic Poverty and Development Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hatton, C., Azmi, S., Caine, A. and Emerson, E. (1998). Informal carers of adolescents and adults with learning difficulties from the south Asian communities: family circumstances, service support and carer stress. British Journal of Social Work, 28, 821–837.CrossRef Google Scholar

Hatton, C., Akram, Y. M., Shah, R., Robertson, J. and Emerson, E. (2002). Supporting South Asian families with a child with severe disabilities: a Report to the Department of Health. Executive summary. Lancaster University: Institute of Health Research.

Littlewood, R. (2006). Mental health and intellectual disabilities: culture and diversity. Journal Intellectual Disability Research, 50(8), 555–560.Google Scholar

Maitland, C. H., Tsakanikos, E., Holt., G, O'Hara, J. and Bouras, N. (2006) The role of ethnicity in clinical psychopathology and care pathways of adults with intellectual disabilities. British Journal of Psychiatry … submittedGoogle Scholar

Mandell, D. S.Listerud, J., Levy, S.et al. (2002). Race differences in the age at diagnosis among medicaid-eligible children with autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(12), 1447–1453.Google Scholar

McDonagh, P. (2000). Diminished men and dangerous women: representations of gender and learning disability in early and mid-nineteenth-century Britain. British Journal of Learning Disability, 28, 49–53.CrossRef Google Scholar

O'Hara, J. (2003). Learning disabilities and ethnicity: achieving cultural competence. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 9, 166–176.Google Scholar

O'Hara, J. and Martin, H. (2003). Parents with learning disabilities: a study of gender and cultural perspectives from East London. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31, 18–24.CrossRef Google Scholar

O'Hara, J., Maitland, C. H., Tsakanikos, E., Holt, G. and Bouras, N. (2005). The role of ethnicity in clinical psychopathology and care pathways of adults with intellectual disabilities. Poster presentation, Royal College of Psychiatrists, Faculty of the Psychiatry of Learning Disabilities Annual Residential Conference, Jersey, UK, October 27 and 28.

Raghavan, R. and O'Hara, J. (2005). Cultural diversity, mental health and learning disabilities. Chapter 18 and Training Module 18. In Mental Health in Learning Disabilities, ed Holt, G., Hardy, S. and Bouras, N.. Brighton, UK: Pavilion.

Ryan, J. and Thomas, F. (1987). The Politics of Mental Handicap. Rev. edn. London: Free Association Books, p. 13.

Shah, R. (1992). The Silent Minority: Children with Disabilities in Asian Families. London: National Children's Bureau.

Sharpley, M., Hutchinson, G., McKenzie, K.et al. (2001). Understanding the excess of psychosis among the African-Caribbean population in England. British Journal of Psychiatry, 178 (Suppl. 40), s60–s68.Google Scholar

Special Olympics (2003). Multinational Study of Attitudes toward Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities: General Findings and Calls to Action. Created by the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr Foundation for the Benefit of Persons with Mental Retardation. Washington DC.

Sue, D. W. and Sue, D. (1999). Counselling the Culturally Different: Theory and Practice, 3rd edn. New York: John Wiley.

Turner, T. H. (1989). Schizophrenia and mental handicap: an historical review, with implications for further research. Psychological Medicine, 19(2), 301–314.Google Scholar

Wing, L. (1993). The definition and prevalence of autism: a review. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2, 61–74.Google Scholar

World Health Organisation (1992). International Classification of Diseases – 10th revision (ICD-10). Geneva: WHO.

World Health Organisation (1993). Micronutrient deficiency information system project. Global prevalence of iodine deficiency disorders (MDIS Working Paper, No. 1). Geneva: WHO.

World Health Organisation (2004). Regional Office for South-East Asia. Health and Behaviour. Mental Retardation: from knowledge to action. http://w3.whosea.org/EN/Section1174/Section1199/Section1567/Section1825_8072.htm.

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.