Teacher Attitudes and the Labeling Process

Abstract

This study tested three assumptions which appear to underlie the decision making process that permits the systematic labeling of the so called six hour retarded child. Subjects were 36 randomly selected teacher clusters (8 teachers per cluster) in the field-test network of the Curriculum Research and Development Center in Mental Retardation (Yeshiva University). Each cluster was randomly assigned one of nine hypothetical but realistic profiles of students. Teachers were then asked to evaluate the adaptiveness of the child and the appropriateness of a mental retardation label. The results support the notion that teachers' labeling decisions tend to be biased against the lower socioeconomic levels and thus contribute to the inappropriate labeling of these children.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Asch

S. E.

Social psychology. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1952.

Farber

Mental retardation: Its social context and social consequences. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.

Freidson

Disability as social deviance. In Sussman

M. B.

(Ed.), Sociology and rehabilitation. Washington DC: American Sociological Association, 1962.

Grossman

H. J.

(Ed.). Manual on terminology and classification in mental retardation. Washington DC: American Association on Mental Deficiency, 1973.

Guskin

S. L.

The influence of labeling upon the perception of subnormality in children. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1962, 67, 402–406.

Heber

A manual on terminology and classification in mental retardation (Monograph suppl., 2nd ed.). Washington DC: American Association on Mental Deficiency, 1961.

Hurley

O. L.

Special education in the inner city: The social implications of placement. In President's Committee on Mental Retardation, Placement of children in special classes for the retarded. Washington DC: PCMR, 1971.

President's Committee on Mental Retardation. The six-hour retarded child. Washington DC: Author, 1969.