Beliefs of Jewish-Oriental Mothers regarding Children who are Mentally Retarded

Abstract

A large part of the Jewish population of Israel consists of people of North-African or Middle Eastern origin. Many of these people hold beliefs they or their parents brought with them from the countries they lived in. The paper presents, in a systematic manner, those beliefs which have a bearing on the treatment of children who are mentally retarded. The beliefs described were collected from written and oral sources. The written sources include, among others, folktales and hagiographies of Jewish-Oriental Saints living in present times. The oral material comes from interviews with 40 mothers from different Jewish communities now living in Israel; close to half of the interviewed mentioned some of the beliefs described. These beliefs relate to the causes which brought about the mental retardation of the child; the blame for the child's condition; the proper ways for treatment and the manner in which the child will recover. Many of the beliefs held by parents are magic and religious. As belief-systems change very slowly, professionals engaged in caring for the mentally retarded child have to take into consideration the beliefs of the parents. The uses of this information in dealing with the parents of pupils from this background are described and exemplified.