De la genese de l'education speciale a l'invention des enfants handicapes mentaux; enquetes sur les commissions de l'education speciale
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Abstract EN:
The law of june 30th 1975, creating "special education commissions" for the orientation of "handicapped children", results from the combination of a new state rationale (prevention-handling of groups at risk) and the dawning of a new problem in society brought about by campaigning by various organizations, including the one founded by parents - as an alternative to mental hospital and in parallel to the education nationale's special education -having brought the implementation of new medico-education institutions, where their children, and many others are put there for various reasons, (between deficiency and moral threat) have been labelled and treated as "mentally handicapped". Recalling past terminology permits one to link this medical and pedagogic renewal to other past full-scale terminology, such as abnormal children, deficient, ill-adapted, which had been connected formerly with other less well organized institutions la- cking a more complete synthesis. And the arguments and stakes relative to negociations, parliamentary de- bates and professional opposition in regard to the commissions of the 1975 law stem from this historical background (boundary line conflicts among the private medico-education sector, psycho-pedagogic lay tra- dition and public mental health). The innovative part of the 1975 law lies in the joining of forces of all interested parties in a single administrative commission. But the very limited number or "real mentally handicapped" cases is an indication of the strong propension of the special education to select people because of their particular social origins. Such discrimination is not known because it is hidden under conclusions of a socio-family nature. (social reasons reduced to that of poor family and or pathogenic family conditions compared to the socalled "normal family". )
Abstract FR:
La loi du 30 juin 1975 - qui cree pour l'orientation des "enfants handicapes" des "commissions de l'edu- cation speciale" - resulte de la rencontre entre une nouvelle rationalisation etatique (prevention - ges- tion des groupes a risques) et la production d'un nouveau probleme de societe par les campagnes associa- tives, dont celle des parents fondateurs - en alternative a l'asile (alliance avec la neuropsychiatrie infantile) et parallelement a l'enseignement special de l'education nationale (soutien de l'administra- tion sante) - de nouveaux instituts medico-educatifs ou leurs enfants, puis bien d'autres places pour de toutes autres raisons (problemes frontieres entre deficience et danger moral), ont ete nommes et traites comme "handicapes mentaux". Mais cette invention notionnelle et ces commissions ne surgissent pas ex ni- hilo. Une lecture genealogique permet de rattacher ce renouveau medico-pedagogique a d'autres appella- tions extensives - enfants anormaux, deficients, inadaptes - qui ont symbolise auparavant des entreprises de moindre fortune faute d'une synthese completement elaboree; et les enjeux des negociations, debats parlementaires et contestations professionnelles sur les commissions de la loi de 1975 puisent leur ener- gie dans la dynamique historique de ce champ (conflits de territoire regulierement cristallises dans la maitrise des procedures de recrutement entre secteur medico-educatif prive, tradition psycho-pedagogique laique et sante mentale publique). L'innovation de la loi de 1975 tient dans la convocation-cohabitation de tous les pouvoirs interesses au sein d'une meme commission administrative; mais le tres faible nombre de dossiers de "vrais handicapes mentaux" manifeste la tendance lourde de l'heritage de l'education spe- ciale, celle de son recrutement socialement determine; discrimination pourtant meconnue parce qu'euphe- misee par des verdicts social-familialistes (reduction des determinants sociaux a une situation familiale moralement anomique et ou pathogene sur fond d'une theorie implicite de la "famille normale". )