A multidimensional model of mental retardation: impairment, subnormal behavior, role failures, and socially constructed retardation.

A multidimensional model of mental retardation was proposed in which impairment, subnormal behavior, and role failures were underpinned by medical, statistical, and social models of normal, respectively. Thus, individuals may be designated "retarded" in one or a combination of logically independent senses. A framework for research and theory was also provided. A new fourth dimension, socially constructed retardation or mental handicap, was defined and its etiological influences in medical, statistical, and social dimensions of retardation was considered, as were interactions of these dimensions. New strategies for operationalizing and alleviating mental retardation were identified.