Constructing age
This article studies the Swedish institution Vipeholm, for “the difficult to care for, uneducable feebleminded,” 1935-1963 and the attempts to systematise and categorise its inmates. Different ways of handling age offered new possibilities for categorisation. The introduction of the concept of “ment...
保存先:
| 出版年: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/alterjdr, |
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| 第一著者: | |
| フォーマット: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| 言語: | Anglais |
| 出版事項: |
Alter
2026
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| 主題: | |
| オンライン･アクセス: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| 要約: | This article studies the Swedish institution Vipeholm, for “the difficult to care for, uneducable feebleminded,” 1935-1963 and the attempts to systematise and categorise its inmates. Different ways of handling age offered new possibilities for categorisation. The introduction of the concept of “mental age” or “intelligence years” provided a new framework for discussing age in relation to “chronological age.” Similarly, biological processes, or “physiological age,” could be employed to describe deviations from the typical ageing process. These disparate aspects of age had to be addressed in practice at the institutions for the “feebleminded.” Despite the intertwining of different ages in everyday life, the “feebleminded” were expected to behave in accordance with the “normal” life course. Treatment was often dominated by normative notions of childhood and adulthood, which had a significant impact on the inmates’ everyday lives. The study is based on medical records of the inmates, annual reports and annual inspections. Employing a disability historical perspective, it becomes clear that the dissonance between the abilities and needs of the “uneducable feebleminded” individuals and the treatment offered created disabling barriers. |
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