Connotations of labels for mental handicap and challenging behaviour: a review and research evaluation

The terms used to denote the concepts of mental handicap and challenging behaviour are a matter of continuing controversy. In the first part of this paper, research concerned with evaluating the impact of such labels is reviewed, and the value of a semantic technique for assessing the connotative effect of labels is proposed. In the second part, this approach was evaluated in a study in which undergraduate social science and science students completed rating scales for terms currently in use to describe mental handicap and challenging behaviour. There were marked differences in the connotations of terms with very similar denotations. Specifically, recently coined terms (e.g. ‘learning difficulty’, ‘challenging behaviour’) were rated more favourably than more familiar descriptions (e.g. ‘mental retardation’, ‘problem behaviour’). Nevertheless, virtually all the terms assessed carried negative, rather than neutral or positive, connotations. These results are discussed in terms of the need to devise descriptions that will promote more positive social representations of mental handicap.