Idiots Act 1886
Encyclopedia
The Idiots Act 1886 was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom
. It was intended to give "... facilities for the care, education, and training of Idiots and Imbeciles".
The Act made, for the first time, the distinction between "lunatic
s", "idiot
s", and "imbecile
s" for the purpose of making entry into education establishments easier and for defining the ways they were cared for.
Before the Act, learning institutions for idiots and imbeciles were seen as either "licensed houses" or "registered hospitals" for lunatics, for which the parents of children hoping to enter would have to complete a form stating that they were "a lunatic, an idiot, or a person of unsound mind". Additionally, they were required to answer irrelevant questions and present two medical certificates.
The Act was repealed by the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, by which time two further classifications had been introduced: "feeble-minded
people" and "moral defectives".
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It was intended to give "... facilities for the care, education, and training of Idiots and Imbeciles".
The Act made, for the first time, the distinction between "lunatic
Lunatic
"Lunatic" is a commonly used term for a person who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, unpredictable; a condition once called lunacy. The word derives from lunaticus meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck".-Lunar hypothesis:...
s", "idiot
Idiot
An idiot, dolt, or dullard is a mentally deficient person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. Archaically the word mome has also been used. The similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin have all gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is...
s", and "imbecile
Imbecile
Imbecile is a term for moderate to severe mental retardation, as well as for a type of criminal. It arises from the Latin word imbecillus, meaning weak, or weak-minded. "Imbecile" was once applied to people with an IQ of 26-50, between "moron" and "idiot" .The term was further refined into mental...
s" for the purpose of making entry into education establishments easier and for defining the ways they were cared for.
Before the Act, learning institutions for idiots and imbeciles were seen as either "licensed houses" or "registered hospitals" for lunatics, for which the parents of children hoping to enter would have to complete a form stating that they were "a lunatic, an idiot, or a person of unsound mind". Additionally, they were required to answer irrelevant questions and present two medical certificates.
The Act was repealed by the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, by which time two further classifications had been introduced: "feeble-minded
Feeble-minded
The term feeble-minded was used from the late nineteenth century in Great Britain, Europe and the United States to refer to a specific type of "mental deficiency". At the time, mental deficiency was an umbrella term, which encompassed all degrees of educational and social deficiency...
people" and "moral defectives".