The purpose of the paper is to present the results of a cross-national research on the opinions of various professionals in the U.S.A and Europe as to the causation of infantile autism. Respondents were given 12 causatative factors to choose from.
The major finding is that a much larger percentage of psychiatrists, psychologists and other professionals, primarily social workers in the United States believe in the organic etiology of infantile autism. A larger percentage of professionals in Europe were more likely to attribute the disease to environmental factors, primarily familial. It seems that irrespective of discipline, the belief in the organic etiology of infantile autism is stronger in the U.S.A. than in Europe.
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