Identification of Environments Promoting the Abuse of People with Intellectual Disabilities - Essay Example

PSYCHODYNAMICS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY People with intellectual disabilities are people who do not understand things ion the same way that the rest of the population does. They both have low learning abilities and cannot go to the regular schools with the rest of the population or they are mentally disabled as well. Even when they attend the same schools, they have to attend different classes from the rest of the students. They are not able to understand and assimilate information in the same way that the normal population can (White, 2003). Therefore, the people with intellectual are at a higher risk of being mistreated by the rest of the population since most of the time they have an issue with communication. People tend to mistreat the people who are not the same as them or people who seem defenseless. These people are prone to all sorts of abuse such as sexual abuse, verbal abuse and even physical abuse. This is because they cannot fight or defend themselves. People with intellectual disabilities very from one person to the other. There are those who cannot learn how to read or write, there are those who cannot comprehend what is going on around them, there are those whose cases are so severe that they have to be confined at homes for the mentally disabled, there are those who are silent while some can be very violent. It all depends with the level of severity of the disability (White, 2003). There are some people who are born like that and some develop the condition due to accidents or other environmental issues. It is important that these people are treated in the same way as the rest of the population are treated. The intellectually disabled people have the same rights as the rest of the population and thus should be treated in the same way. The mistreatment of the intellectually disabled ought to come to an end as it degrades the value of the human being in question and remains an inhumane act. The intellectually disabled people are the most affected when it comes to issues of sexual abuse. They can barely understand what is going on. Since most of them are usually left on their own, they fail to get the love and appreciation from the people around them. This leaves them very vulnerable to the people who show them even a little bit of concern. Since they can barely communicate what is happening to them, they are likely to be taken advantage of and to be manipulated into doing some things that may be illegal (White, 2003). Furthermore, they can easily misinterpret situations and judge someone who wants to harm them. In most third world countries, mental illnesses are associated with witchcraft and the people who are affected are usually locked in the houses and are barely allowed to go anywhere when they are not attended to. Their families usually abandon them and some are even left to wander on the streets where they are prone to abuse by strangers and very harsh environmental conditions. Some other people get embarrassed of them and lock them in the houses where they remain tied to their beds so that they can be controlled. Due to the high levels of poverty, some families are not able to take them to the required centers where they can receive help but rather they are left in the homes till they die (White, 2003). However, this may work against them as they get discriminated against and they are usually taunted for lack of their ability to learn. Most of them cannot communicate with other people and thus may not be able to report any cases of abuse that may be done against them (White, 2003). Therefore, perpetrators usually get away with what they have done unless there is another witness who is mentally stable to give testimony in court or there has to be very strong evidence on the issue. They also get more physically abuse than the intellectually able people. The mistreatment of the intellectually disabled people continues to rise each year. They get beaten up so that they can follow orders or so that they can respect authority. For the people who argue that they hit them so that they can be controlled, they say that it disciplines them and it makes them follow orders and make them more manageable (White, 2003). Most people are uninformed on how they should deal with the intellectually disabled people and thus resulting in them being locked up with chains. Where a family does not have the resources to take care of them, they barely get the nutritional needs that they require. Since they cannot do some activities on their own such as bathing and getting dressed, they need to be washed kept clean. However, this is not the case and some of them can go for weeks and even months without getting the much needed shower and clean clothes. People barely have the time and the resources to take care of the intellectually disabled (White, 2003). However, this should not be the case since they are human beings like any other only that they have limited capabilities. The fact that they have limited capabilities should not be the reason as to why they are treated differently. They are also people with emotions and feelings and this means that they get hurt whenever they are mistreated. All they need is acre and understanding. People do not understand what they go through and thus rarely empathize with their conditions. There are most of the time seen as burdens and as people who hinder development. They can barely come up with anything that would benefit the society and in return, the society feels that it has nothing to offer them as well. However, some of the intellectually disabled people can be treated completely with patience and some drugs (White, 2003). The major hindrance to this is that most of the drugs are usually very expensive for most families to afford. Sometimes the family may feel despair and feel that they cannot do anything to help their loved ones. Most of the families suffer from ignorance as to what they can do to help the intellectually disabled in the family. Therefore, most of the people are left with caregivers who mistreat them as they lack the love and level of affection that the family members have towards the intellectually disabled. It is wrong to mistreat the intellectually disabled people because they do not function in the same way that the rest of the population does. While they may be disabled intellectually, they also have various talents. They need to be taken to centers where they can be monitored and trained according to the talents that they display. There are many intellectually disabled people who are able to do things that the rest of the people are unable to do. They only need to be trained and also a lot of patience so that the dreams can be nurtured. They are usually very loving people when they are well-taken care of and love the people who take care of them (White, 2003). If the rest of the population dismisses them as being useless, then they are likely to remain an angry and a bitter lot who will do anything to ruin the peace of the people. The number of intellectually disabled people can be greatly reduced if they are treated well and if they are well- taken care of. There have been a number of discoveries that have helped to treat some of them successfully and even those who cannot be healed completely are given options to make their lives more meaningful. If they are left then the society becomes cruel in its own way. By abandoning these people they do not help them but rather make their situation worse than it was before (White, 2003). The rest of the population needs to be educated on the challenges that the intellectually disabled people face so that they can understand them and relate to what they undergo. This way, they will understand them more and find better ways of dealing with them. References White, C. H. (2003). ‘The identification of environments and cultures that promote the abuse of people with intellectual disabilities: a review of the literature. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities,, 1-9. Read More