During this period, a popular belief was that mental retardation and mental illness were completely genetic, and caused most, if not all, social ills such as poverty, drunkenness, prostitution, crime, and violence. The response to this belief was to segregate...

Pendant le moyen âge Some persons with disabilities, particularly those considered unproductive dependents, were "shipped off" to other lands. Some communities paid sailors to take such individuals away so they would no longer pose a burden. This practice...