THE MENTALLY-RETARDED PERSON AS A VICTIM OF MALTREATMENT

Throughout history, disabled people have been a special vulnerable gro up to maltreatment practices. However, this special vulnerability is n ot shown in the quantity of investigations carried out on the matter T his article includes a review of the main conclusions drawn from the f ew publications carried out on this topic in recent years, with the pu rpose of providing a current perspective and one of integration on the most controversial aspects. The question of whether mental retardatio n is the cause or the consequence of maltreatment, the vulnerability f actors related to disability and the main risk situations are consider ed. Reflections coming from different studies in more specific aspects , such as the relationship between sexual abuse and mental retardation , are presented here; also, some current prevention and treatment stra tegies are proposed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.