ABSTRACT
The medical/psychological and sociological models constitute two fairly distinct approaches to the problem of defining the mentally handicapped and, although there is a considerable degree of overlap between them, their basic conceptions of the problem are different. Administrative and legal definitions do not constitute a separate approach; they are syntheses of the two basic models, sometimes drawing more on one and sometimes more on the other in different societies and during different historical periods. To the extent that the mentally handicapped were separately identified and treated in nineteenth-century England, this was usually in the context of the disease model, which sought to establish causes and appropriate measures of treatment which would result in cures, or at least prevention. Precise assessments of the prevalence of severe mental handicap, as opposed to informed guesses, are difficult to come by for a number of reasons. The resulting Act of 1913 was largely based on the recommendations of the Royal Commission.
