Talið á ófullførum fólki í Føroyum: A Census of the Mentally Deficient in the Faroes

Abstract

The present work is a census of all the mentally deficient (i. e. exclusive of retarded persons) in the Faroes, both those in homes (in Denmark) for the mentally deficient and those outside, whether placed under some form of welfare or not. The census shows that at the end of 1958 there were in the Faroese population (1958: 34,296 inhabitants) 179 mentally deficient in all, or 0.52 per 100 inhabitants, 94 men, and 85 women. Out of these, 44 were to be characterized as mentally deficient in the mildest degree (morons), 98 mentally deficient in the medium degree (imbeciles), and 37 mentally deficient in the most extreme degree (idiots). None of them were married. The division of the mentally deficient according to age, degree, and residence appears from the tables 1, 2, and 4, according to the underlying causes of menfal deficiency from the table 3. 68 were in homes (in Denmark) for the mentally deficient, but further 35 were in urgent need of being removed to such homes. Presumably a small number of persons (on a rough estimate about 20) have been overlooked in this census. — Therefore, the first time, a home for the mentally deficient in the Faroes ought to have accomodation for at least about 100 inmates.