Home and family conditions of cultural-familial retarded children

Abstract

The present study was concerned with the possibility that families of cultural-familial mentally retarded children differ from those of non-retarded children of low- and average-socio-economic status on parental attitudes towards and beliefs about their children; the nature and extent of family and community problems; and the quality of extant home and neighbourhood conditions. Thirty 7- and 8-year-old children, all of whom attended public primary schools, were selected for study. Ten of the children were attending primary special classes and were identified as cultural-familial mentally retarded from school and Psychological Service records. For each subject in the cultural-familial group, pools of 7- and 8-year-old children of low- and average- SES were formed from pupils attending the same schools as the cultural-familial group. Subsequently, for each cultural-familial child, a child of the same sex who matched him/her as closely as possible on age was selected from each pool. Two questionnaires (The Questionnaire on Resources and Stress & The Family Background Questionnaire) were administered to the mothers of the children; ratings were made of the children's homes and immediate neighbourhoods; family contacts with Department of Social Welfare social workers, police and Visiting Teachers were examined; and analyses were made of the children's school dental records. The mothers of the cultural-familial children, in comparison with low- and average-SES mothers, reported higher stress levels in their families, and greater financial problems in the home. Moreover, the mothers of the cultural-familial groups attributed greater occupational limitations, more difficult personality characteristics, and more socially obtrusive behaviour characteristics to their children than did either of the other groups. The educational status of the mothers and the mothers' aspirations for their children were significantly lower in the cultural-familial group, dissatisfaction with the work of the schools (vis a vis the subjects) was also somewhat greater in this group, and a higher rate of unemployment was found among the mothers of the cultural-familial children. The homes of the cultural-familial children were judged to be significantly lower in material standard and cleanliness than the homes of the other children. Moreover, contact with social workers and visiting teachers was significantly more frequent for families of the cultural-familial retarded children. It was concluded that the families of cultural-familial retarded children differed in a variety of ways from those of non-retarded children of low- and average-socioeconomic status. The intergroup differences which were obtained were supportive of the notion that families of cultural-familial retarded children have a variety of family problems not encountered by othe low-socioeconomic status families. The results were discussed in terms of the development of family intervention programmes for cultural-familial retarded children.