Library Collections: Document: Full Text

Christmas In Purgatory: A Photographic Essay On Mental Retardation

Creator:		Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan (authors)
Date:		1974
Source:		Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact:		Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24 Figure 25 Figure 26 Figure 27 Figure 28 Figure 29 Figure 30 Figure 31 Figure 32 Figure 33 Figure 34 Figure 35 Figure 36 Figure 37 Figure 38 Figure 39 Figure 40 Figure 41 Figure 42 Figure 43 Figure 44 Figure 45 Figure 46 Figure 47 Figure 48 Figure 49 Figure 50 Figure 51 Figure 52 Figure 53 Figure 54 Figure 55 Figure 56 Figure 57 Figure 58 Figure 59 Figure 60 Figure 61 Figure 62 Figure 63 Figure 64 Figure 65 Figure 66 Figure 67 Figure 68 Figure 69 Figure 70 Figure 71 Figure 72 Figure 73 Figure 74 Figure 75 Figure 76 Figure 77 Figure 78 Figure 79 Figure 80 Figure 81 Figure 82 Figure 83 Figure 84 Figure 85 Figure 86 Figure 87 Figure 88 Figure 89 Figure 90 Figure 91 Figure 92 Figure 93 Figure 94 Figure 95 Figure 96 Figure 97 Figure 98 Figure 99 Figure 100 Figure 101 Figure 102 Figure 103 Figure 104 Figure 105 Figure 106 Figure 107 Figure 108 Figure 109 Figure 110 Figure 111 Figure 112 Figure 113 Figure 114 Figure 115 Figure 116 Figure 117 Figure 118 Figure 119 Figure 120 Figure 121

Previous Page Next Page All Pages



10		After a good deal of thought, I decided to follow through on a seemingly bizarre venture. One of my close friends, Fred Kaplan, is a freelance photographer who has worked for many national publications. The following plan was presented to him. We were to arrange to meet with each of several key administrative persons in a variety of public institutions for the mentally retarded. If we gained an individual's cooperation, in spite of the obvious great risk he would be assuming with respect to his institutional status and possible job security, we would be taken on a "tour" of the back wards and those parts of the institution that he was most ashamed of. On the "tour" Fred Kaplan would take pictures of what we observed, utilizing a hidden camera attached to his belt. During the month of December, 1965, we visited -- at our own expense -- five state institutions for the mentally retarded in four eastern states. Through the efforts of courageous and humanitarian colleagues, including two superintendents who put their reputations and professional positions in jeopardy, we were able to visit the darkest corridors and vestibules that humanity provides for its journey to purgatory and, without being detected by ward personnel and professional staff, Fred Kaplan was able to take hundreds of photographs.

11		The latter point deserves some comment. Our photographs are not always the clearest and, probably, Fred Kaplan is not proud of the technical qualities of every one published in this book. On the other hand, it required a truly creative and skilled photographer to take these pictures, "from the hip" so to speak, unable to use special lighting, not permitted to focus or set shutter speeds, with a small camera concealed in multitudes of clothing and surrounded by innumerable "eyes" of patients as well as of staff. Although our pictures could not even begin to capture the total and overwhelming horror we saw, smelled, and felt, they represent a side of America that has rarely been shown to the general public and is little understood by most of us.

12		We do not believe it is necessary to disclose the names of the institutions we visited. First, we have a deep debt of gratitude to those who permitted us to photograph that which they are most ashamed of. To reveal the names of the places we visited is, assuredly, an invitation to invite their instant dismissal. However, we have a much more forceful reason for not admitting to where we have been. These pictures are a challenge to all institutions for the mentally retarded in the United States. We are firmly convinced that in many other institutions in America we could have taken the same pictures -- some, we are sure, even more frightening.

13		Our "Christmas in Purgatory" brought us to the depths of despair. We now have a deep sorrow, one that will not abate until the American people are aware of -- and do something about -- the treatment of the severely mentally retarded in our state institutions. We have again been caused to realize that "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn."

14		It is fitting that this book -- our purgatory in black and white-was written on the 700th anniversary of the birth of Dante.

15		B.B.

16		PURGATORY I "Abandon all hope..."

17		"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Dante

18		This book is divided into two major sections. The first section covers our visits to four institutions for the mentally retarded, located in three eastern states. The second section describes a fifth institution in another state. The latter is our way of communicating our deep conviction that many of the severe conditions with which you are about to become involved are not necessary consequences of the fact of institutionalization of mentally retarded individuals. These problems are largely the result of inadequate budgets, inferior facilities, untrained personnel, and haphazard planning -- in spite of some dedicated and skilled professional workers in each of the institutions we visited. For example, the average per capita daily cost for maintaining a retarded resident in each of the four institutions we are about to describe is less than $7.00 and, in one state school, less than $5.00. In contrast, The Seaside, a regional center for the retarded sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Health, spends $12.00 daily for the care and treatment of each resident.

19		As was mentioned in the foreword, we are not disclosing the names either of the institutions or the states where they are located with the exception of -- for obvious reasons -- the contrast institution. As far as the contrast institution, The Seaside, is concerned, we will be speaking about that one Center. We make no claim that The Seaside is representative or not representative of the Connecticut program for the mentally retarded although the State of Connecticut is to be commended for this -- at least one -- affirmation of the dignity of all mankind.

20		We repeat something already said, needing emphasis. What was observed in the institutions presented in Part I reflects what we have seen in other state institutions for the mentally retarded in other parts of the country. We know of few state institutions that do not -- to a degree -- have problems similar to the ones discussed in this book. The Seaside is one of the rare examples where one may see every ward -- without becoming revolted or depressed. To be sure, every institution we visited during our Christmas recess had many things of which to be proud and further, each is accomplishing good work in care and treatment. However, with the exception of The Seaside, each had made miniscule progress, especially in those areas concerning the care of severely retarded ambulatory adults and moderately and severely retarded young children. It is in the hope of calling attention to the desperate needs of these institutions and thereby paving the way for upgrading all institutions for the mentally retarded in all dimensions of their responsibilities that this study was undertaken.