You are here
"The Best and Worst of All That God and Man Can Do": Paternalistic Perceptions On the Intellectually Disabled at Florida's Sunland Institutions."
| Title: | "The Best and Worst of All That God and Man Can Do": Paternalistic Perceptions On the Intellectually Disabled at Florida's Sunland Institutions.". |
 88 views 66 downloads |
|---|---|---|
| Name(s): |
Dickens, Bethany, Author Cassanello, Robert, Committee Chair Foster, Amy, Committee Member Lindsay, Anne, Committee Member , Committee Member University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor |
|
| Type of Resource: | text | |
| Date Issued: | 2014 | |
| Publisher: | University of Central Florida | |
| Language(s): | English | |
| Abstract/Description: | Historians have studied mental institutions in the mid-20th century; however, few have discussed them within the context of the period's paternalistic social movements and perceptions. Florida's Sunland program provides a lens for studying the parental role the institutions and general public took toward the intellectually disabled. Specifically, administrators saw residents of the Sunland Training Centers and Hospitals as perpetual children, trapped in an (")eternal childhood.(") The institution was presented as a family unit, abiding by 1950s ideals of the companionate household. When the Sunlands proved generally unsuccessful, Florida's communities began to supplement their efforts. The social movements of the 1960s inspired community care organizations and other special programs in lieu of institutionalization. Reports of neglect and abuse at the Sunlands contributed to the community's subsequent perception of residents as (")victimized children,(") deprived of a (")normal(") life. Such a view of the intellectually disabled continues to dominate discussions of the Sunlands, community care, and (")normalization.(") This study informs a broad understanding of the past while contributing to these contemporary considerations. Research into the Sunland Training Centers and Hospitals, as well as their surrounding communities, relies on subjective sources. The flagship training center, located in Gainesville, published an internally-circulated newsletter utilized in this work. Detailed studies of Florida's newspapers provide the perspective of Florida's community members, including women's clubs and civil rights activists. Finally, articles and books written on Sunland (")hauntings(") illustrate recent attempts to define and patronize the intellectually disabled. All of these sources point toward a liberal paternalism that dominated discussions of the intellectually disabled in the mid-20th century. | |
| Identifier: | CFE0005156 (IID), ucf:50707 (fedora) | |
| Note(s): |
2014-05-01 M.A. Arts and Humanities, History Masters This record was generated from author submitted information. |
|
| Subject(s): |
history of disability Florida history history of intellectual disability Sunland institutions Sunland hospitals Sunland training centers |
|
| Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005156 | |
| Restrictions on Access: | public 2014-05-15 | |
| Host Institution: | UCF |
