Mental Retardation and Child Abuse

Sling Blade is a film about a mentally retard individual by the name of Karl, who murders his mother and her lover Karls classmate at the age of twelve. Subsequently, Karl is institutionalized. Upon release, Karl returns to his hometown where he befri cans a young boy, Frank. The boys father had committed suicide, and his mother is go out Doyle, who detestations both Frank and his mother. Eventually, Karl is responsible for the murder of Doyle as well, as he must put an end to the abuse that he is witnessing in the lives of Frank and his mother.The story of the film is atypical seeing that Karl is a mentally mentally retarded individual who takes action against child abuse. Scientific explore, on the other hand, has revealed that it is usually the mentally retarded individual who must suffer abuse simply because he can non take care of himself.As an example, Morse, Sahler, and Friedman analyze xx five children who had been abused, out of which forty two per centum were menta lly retarded. All except sensation of the mentally retarded children in the study had already been diagnosed as mentally retarded before they were abused. Hence, it is clear that the abusers knew that the mentally retarded children are vulnerable to abuse.According to Morse, Sahler, and Friedman, people who spend time with mentally retarded children are usually aware that these children are not always able to fleshlyly or verbally defend themselves. Moreover, these children are not always able to describe their abuse to others. Typically, they are also otiose to differentiate between straightlaced and improper verbal communication and/or physical contact, regardless of whether the physical contact is sexual or violent in nature.Lastly, mentally retarded children are truly myrmecophilous on other people for all manners of assistance. This makes them more trusting toward their caretakers as well as others. Also according to the authors, passivity as well as compliance stem from t he trust and dependence of the mentally retarded child. Those who abuse mentally retarded children are, therefore, taking undue advantage of the trust shown by these children.Sandgrund, Gaines, and Green brook also conducted a study on children. Out of one hundred and twenty children studied by the authors, sixty had been abused, thirty had been neglected, and another thirty had not been abused at all. The authors inform that twenty five share of the abused children in their study had been diagnosed as mentally retarded.Twenty percent of the neglected children had similarly been recognized as mentally retarded, while only three percent of the children who had neer been abused were mentally retarded. The findings of this study reveal that mentally retarded children are quite likely to be abused. The fact that Karl of Sling Blade was never abused rather, he had the intelligence to differentiate between proper and improper verbal communication and/or physical contact shows that t he film is about an unusual mentally retarded individual. Sandgrund, Gaines, and Green write that mentally retarded children are normally hesitant to report instances of abuse because they fear losing the essential relationships with their caretakers.Furthermore, these children are not always believed if they manage to report abuse. Seeing that Karl was not algophobic to lose his caretaker at the time he killed his mother reveals that this mentally retarded child was definitely not a typical one.McFadden has also written about the abuse of mentally ill children, including those who are mentally retarded. Reporting a study conducted by the New York State Commission on Quality of conduct for the Mentally Disabled, McFadden writes that abuse in institutions for mentally retarded children is higher than abuse in institutions for children who are mentally fit. Also according to the authorIn analyzing those cases, the commission install that abuse most often occurred in leisure-time ar eas, such as recreation rooms and sleeping quarters, where children congregate withoutstructured activities. It also found that boys over 12 years of age and children who exhibiteddisturbing conduct were at the highest risk of abuse.In 16 percent of the cases, the study said, a finding of abuse or neglect was made by thereportage facility. In another 18 percent, the facility found misconduct by an employee but no grounds of abuse. In 66 percent, some corrective action was taken and in nearly 20 percentdisciplinary action was taken against at least one employee.Most of those responsible for the abuse or neglect were not new employees. The study said80 percent of them had worked at the facility at least one year and 50 percent had beenemployed more than three years (McFadden).Karl was gold because his mother did not abuse him. He was not abused in an institution either. All the same, research evidence suggests that mentally retarded children are highly vulnerable to abuse. In unusual cases, perhaps mentally retarded individuals like Karl may be able to struggle against child abuse. Then again, they might have to take drastic actions such as those of Karl in order to end child abuse. After all, mentally retarded individuals are not considered credible if they simply manage to report abuse.Works CitedMcFadden, Robert D. Child shout out High in New York Mental Centers. New York Times. 1Dec 1987. 17 Nov 2007..Morse, C.W., O.Z. Sahler, and S.B. Friedman. A Three-Year fulfil Study of Abused andNeglected Children. American Journal of Diseases of Children. Vol. 120 (1970) pp. 439-446.Sandgrund, H., R. Gaines, and A. Green. Child Abuse and Mental lag A Problem ofCause and Effect. American Journal of Mental Deficiency. Vol. 79 (1974) pp. 327-330.Sling Blade. Dir. Billy bobsleigh Thorton. 1996.