“itle: Using Goffman’s characteristics of a total institution, compare the life of Margaret Scally when she was a resident of Lennox Castle Hospital with that of Lesley Learmonth. What do their experiences tell us about how assumptions have changed regarding care and support for people with learning disabilities? Part A: Essay Option Number: 1”

Previously, there was little or no choice in the type of care given to people with learning disabilities. They would either remain living with their parents most of their lives or be placed in an institution, such as Lennox Castle Hospital. The dissolution of institutions such as Lennox Castle Hospital has changed the attitudes and expectations regarding how people with learning disabilities are now cared for and supported immensely and impacted the way they are now expected to live their lives in today’s society. In this essay, I will attempt to compare the more modern experiences of Lesley Learmonth, born in 1970 with down syndrome who makes the transition into independence by moving from her parents home where she had lived for 35 years, to her own flat, with that of Margaret Scally, born in 1952, who moved into Lennox Castle in 1968 and was a resident until 1991. I will use Goffmans…(short extract)