Introduction: the Icelandic context
This chapter considers the history of people with intellectual disabilities in Iceland, paying particular attention to the last quarter of the twentieth century when ideas about a normal life began to influence Icelandic disability policy and legislation which has emphasised social equality and participation for over 30 years.
This history is largely a story of discrimination and social exclusion, portraying people with intellectual disabilities as abnormal and inferior. The first half of the twentieth century can be characterised by negative societal views and isolation at institutions. The eugenic movement and the medical understanding of intellectual disabilities played a crucial role in constructing negative societal views of people with intellectual disabilities (Kevles, 1986; Atkinson and Walmsley, 1999). The eugenic movement argued that ‘feeble-mindedness’ was hereditary and that ‘mental defectives’ were a threat to society due to their uncontollable urges and degenerative characteristics. The ‘professional community’, armed with scientific data from hereditary studies, pursued aggressively restrictive measures such as ‘controlled marriage, sterilization and segregation through institutionalization’ (Scheerenberger, 1983: 154). During the 1920s and 1930s, compulsory sterilisation of women with intellectual disabilities was legalised in many European countries as well as in North America. Such legislation remained in place in most countries until the 1970s and 1980s. This led to involuntary sterilisation of women with intellectual disabilities in many countries (Tilley et al, 2012).
The first Act concerning institutions in Iceland, the Law on Sanctuaries, was passed in 1936 (Altingi no. 18/1936). This defined the legal framework for the first Icelandic institution. Although the policy was intended to improve people's living conditions it heralded the beginning of institutionalisation in Iceland. Two years later, in 1938, a law was passed legalising sterilisation and abortion for people labelled ‘feeble-minded’ or with ‘another serious disease’. This legislation reflected the influence of eugenics and remained in force until 1975. It was common practice to sterilise women with intellectual disabilities (Karlsdóttir, 1998). In the 1950s, institutions for people with intellectual disabilities came under increasing criticism. Research and official investigations uncovered abusive and dehumanising conditions (Chapman et al, 2015).
During the 1960s and 1970s the ideology of normalisation replaced ideas of segregation and institutionalisation, calling for a ‘normal life’ for people with intellectual disabilities and advocating for their right to take part in regular community life.