Impaired Competence in an Urban Community

Abstract

During the past half-century, many studies have been conducted to determine both the prevalence and incidence of mental disorders. This ecological research has demonstrated that some factors external to the individual are related to mental disorders. However, ecological studies of other types of impairments are virtually nonexistent. This research is an ecological analysis of intellectual, behavioral, and physical impairments in an urban complex. Data analysis results, illustrated by computer graphics and statistical analysis, suggest that ecological patterns of intellectual impairments and behavioral retardation are similar to mental disorders and that high rates of these impairments are located in the same general ecological proximity in the urban complex. On the other hand, physical disabilities have a remarkably different spatial distribution and are not systematically related with variables ordinarily associated with mental disorders, intellectual impairment, or behavioral retardation.