The Soviet Union’s Historical Approach to People with Developmental Disabilities

By Andrew Hazard  

When it comes to society’s handling of people with developmental disabilities, many countries have taken radically different approaches historically. While the 20th century, especially the latter half, is often seen as a time of progress in services for disabled people, that perspective largely applies to just the United States and the wider Western world. When it comes to the former Soviet Union, the story is rather disparate, being usually characterized by high hopes, broken promises and common backsliding. This article will examine the ways in which the Soviet Union addressed the developmentally disabled throughout the state’s existence and how its efforts impacted the lives of these people, for better or for worse.

World War I, the October Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Russian Civil War greatly contributed to societal upheaval in Russia. People were internally displaced, famine was rampant, and nearly the entire eligible population was mobilized for war. As a result, many charity organizations that assisted disadvantaged people were forced to close down during this time of nonstop war, including organizations that provided care to children. This care also extended to children with intellectual disabilities, and without it, they were unfortunately left vulnerable. To make matters worse, this was essentially the only kind of support they had at the time, and it was received by only a small population. The issue of such disabilities in children was brought up at the 1920 All-Russian Congress of “activists against child defectiveness, homelessness and criminality,” in which the national importance of helping such disadvantaged children was greatly stressed [1]. The resulting doctrine stated that “Homeless, abandoned, sick kids are the family, the beloved children of the Soviet republic.” Though not expressly stated yet, children with disabilities were also a part of this group. The earliest aims of this doctrine, tied closely to homelessness, were to establish collectivist public education, promote the physical health of children by providing free food, and protect children against forced labor.

Initial Soviet efforts to protect children with disabilities were characterized by collaboration between the Children's Commission for the Russian Central Executive Committee, the Russian Extraordinary Commission, the ministries for education, social welfare, health and justice, and various people’s commissioners. Within the designated group of children with disabilities, those with intellectual disabilities were counted in their own independent group [1]. The Ministry of Education established special schools for children who were blind or deaf, setting them apart from those with other disabilities. When it came to those who were mentally incapacitated, had tuberculosis, or another illness, they were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. Those with more serious intellectual disabilities and those otherwise deemed incapable of learning were the responsibility of the Ministry of Social Affairs [1]. This created an increasing divide between children thought to be capable and children thought to be incapable, starting in the early 1920s. Most intellectually disabled children were deemed incapable, but could be deemed capable if they were able to meet the demands of a factory worker school education, the standard length of which was seven years.

Seeking to solve the issues of disabled and homeless children simultaneously, the Soviet state began building institutions to house both. As one might expect, this led to careless mixing of severely disabled children with those who merely had behavioral issues, further complicating efforts to assist them. On top of that, the Ministry of Social Affairs gained increasing jurisdiction over shelters and homes for children, between 1922 and 1932, converting them into state institutions [1]. This led to children with intellectual disabilities being removed from buildings that were designed specifically for them, in order to make room for others. The disabled children were then placed into worse accommodations. It was becoming ever more obvious that the Soviet state’s needs were a greater priority than those of disabled individuals.

From the founding of the Soviet Union, a principle of socialist humanism was adopted, whereby the needs of individuals were further deemphasized, and focus was instead put on benefiting the nation at large through growing people’s “physical and spiritual abilities” [1]. When it came to children, even disabled ones, the priority became a collectivist upbringing with the aim of producing hard workers to serve the state. Essentially, it was believed that children could be taught to fit in the new system or that they could be “corrected”. Early Soviet ideologues claimed that even intellectually disabled would be brought up as full members of society, helping them develop into useful citizens. However, these claims would ultimately become empty promises, especially once Joseph Stalin cemented his control over the Soviet Union. After the adoption of the 1936 Constitution, which proclaimed that whoever did not work would not eat, an increasing stigma around the intellectually disabled was created [1]. Viewed as burdensome and useless, intellectually disabled children were gravely neglected once the Soviet state grew frustrated with their failed attempts to fold them into communist society.

When it came to understanding developmentally disabled children on a scientific level, the predominant school of thought in early Soviet Russia was pedology. Pedologists examined children from a holistic point of view, using methods and instruments to understand how social and biological factors affected their mental and physical characteristics. One scientist, Lev Vygotsky, concluded that children with developmental disabilities were not necessarily less developed, but rather that they had developed in different ways [1]. However, pedology came under increasing public attack in the Soviet Union. Regardless of the validity of these claims, teachers protested due to concerns that the common testing of children by pedologists produced inaccurate results and that children from privileged backgrounds were the sole beneficiaries. The government itself was disappointed with the growing number of children diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and the emergence of more special schools, as these developments conflicted with the state’s ideological goals. This backlash had several consequences for the pedological field in Soviet society. Testing and research on early psychological developments were halted and the government hurled accusations of it being pseudoscientific. This culminated in the ban of pedology in the Soviet Union in 1936. This resulted in several kinds of facilities being shut down, such as kindergartens, special schools, and other buildings that took care of intellectually disabled children [1]. IQ tests, while not banned themselves, became extremely unpopular. Thus, the divide between disabled and non-disabled children was further widened.

In the place of pedology, defectology became the new dominant method of studying developmentally disabled children in the Soviet Union. This discipline is chiefly concerned with how children exhibiting mental and physical defects develop, while considering difficulties they may have in their upbringing and their ability to learn [1]. As the popularity of pedology waned, defectology played a greater role in the social care that intellectually disabled children received. This led to the practice being regulated and incorporated into various institutions in the Soviet Union. In 1929, the Experimental Defectological Institute was founded, and the aforementioned Vygotsky worked here from this time until his death in 1934. His pedological research had been disposed of when that discipline fell out of favor, but his defectological research still retained much of his previous sentiments. He thought that children with any kind of disability, whether it be blindness, deafness, or an intellectual disability deserved social compensation because these disabilities greatly impact how someone interacts with the world and other people. He also believed in the collective, through exposure to different ages, different developmental levels, and those who are not disabled, as a way of fostering the development of social and cognitive skills in disabled children [1]. However, aside from Vygotsky’s views, the Soviet Union as a whole was not very kind to disabled individuals, especially as the state exerted more control over such affairs and the reliance on defectology contributed to the divide between the disabled and non-disabled.

Leading up to the implementation of the 1936 Stalin Constitution, and especially afterward, the Soviet Union increasingly viewed disabled as undesirable. Along with other disadvantaged groups, the disabled were often moved out of cities, such as Moscow, Leningrad (today Saint Petersburg), Kharkov (today Kharkiv) and Sochi to “clean up” those places. They were then sent to special settlements in remote areas with poor living conditions. Roughly 39,000 people were sent to Siberia in 1933 alone [2]. In these settlements, disabled people were forced to labor in mines and in other grueling conditions, the same as other relocated people. Others wouldn’t even make it to these camps. In 1937, 34 people with hearing disabilities were falsely accused of forming a fascist organization and were subsequently executed in Leningrad. Even when no charges were involved, the government viewed these people as the cause of their own disabilities, refused to assist in their rehabilitation, and executed them in cold blood. One instance in 1938 saw the execution of 170 individuals who were blind, suffered from tuberculosis, had heart defects, or were otherwise disabled [2].

After the devastation of World War II, the USSR now had 2.5 million disabled war veterans; 500,000 of them lost their limbs. Due to the shortage of wheelchairs, those who lost their legs often used makeshift gurneys, that were merely boards on wheels, to get around [2]. As for the wheelchairs and strollers that were available, comfortable models had yet to be produced, leaving the physically disabled with further inconvenience. The wheelchairs and strollers that did exist in the immediate post-war were unable to be folded and were difficult to operate. Furthermore, their bulky build made them too large to fit in most elevators and doorways. There were also no accessibility ramps for wheelchairs in Russia. Several people would have to lift the wheelchair up the steps into a clinic or other public building, further complicating the ability of individuals to seek out proper care for their disabilities. The state’s solution to this was to move these people into sanatoriums that offered some amount of care, even if minimal [2]. For many, this was the only option they had, as many had lost relatives during the war. Even those with families would have likely been permanently stuck in an apartment, unfortunately leaving a sanatorium as a better option. Regarding finances, physically disabled individuals were entitled to free wheelchairs for five years. However, on top of the aforementioned poor quality, waiting for them could take months or as long as several years. There were virtually none in the Soviet Union and it was illegal to buy anything from another country at the time. Pensions for disabled individuals were below average salaries and did not provide enough for them to live on their own. In the 1980s, the highest possible pension was 120 rubles per month, while the average salary was 170 rubles [2].

Most disabled individuals were completely separated from the Soviet legal system, leaving them with fewer rights than the already small amount afforded to the average Soviet citizen. Instead, the disabled were dealt with by the Ministry of Social Security and placed into specialized institutions. In these homes, people were under very repressive conditions. Disabled people were forbidden from having their own children; when a child was born, it would be stripped away from the mother and placed under state care [2]. In an attempt to prevent this as much as possible, the government would separate disabled people of opposite sexes who became close with each other, by moving them to different floors or buildings. Another measure taken was the deliberate placement of disabled people without mental disorders with those who were mentally ill, thus putting both in danger. Other poor conditions included a lack of heating, only being served rotten or stale food and senseless beatings, driving many to suicide. The Ministry of Social Security acted outside the jurisdiction of the courts, and as such, these awful conditions were never legally challenged.

Further exploitation of disabled people occurred in specialized education and production enterprises where blind individuals made products such as envelopes, window hinges, switches, funeral wreaths, etc. During the 1980s, approximately 58 thousand disabled people worked in these places, where each year, they would produce roughly 10 thousand rubles worth of products [2]. However, most of this profit was given back to the state, leaving the disabled with mere kopecks for their efforts. Structurally, kopecks are equivalent to pennies, but are valued far lower. These people were effectively robbed shamelessly by their own government.

In regards to physical rehabilitation, such as through international sporting events, disabled individuals were almost entirely left out. When asked whether disabled people from the Soviet Union would be allowed to participate in events such as the Olympics, the response from the government was always the same, “There are no disabled people in the USSR” [2]. They not only pretended that such people did not exist, but also described such events as “inhumane,” downplaying the importance of sports for disabled individuals. It was not until 1988 that the USSR allowed a team to take part in the Paralympic Games, during which they won 12th place, earning 55 medals in total [2].

Contrary to the main slogan in the Soviet Constitution, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”, the USSR did not treat disabled people as such. It cannot be understated how terrible the conditions were for these individuals in the communist state. People were denied the right to education, a living wage, proper medical care, a healthy diet, basic recreation, an enjoyable life, and so many other things that we often take for granted. Initial promises during the state’s infancy provided many with hope that conditions would improve. However, as the government became more centralized and totalitarian, society as a whole bent the knee. Ultimately, disabled people bore some of the harshest burdens of all in the USSR, as their needs conflicted with those of the government. Despite some progress, modern Russia is no champion of disability rights either, with discrimination against disabled people and harmful institutionalization of children still being commonplace [3]. This obviously makes reform far from over, but humanity can thankfully rest easy knowing that circumstances are not nearly as bleak as they once were.

References

[1] Kalinnikova, Liya & Trygged, Sven. A retrospective on care and denial of children with disabilities in Russia. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research. https://sjdr.se/articles/10.1080/15017419.2013.861865.

[2] Manaev, Georgy. (2021). Why were disabled people persecuted in the USSR?. Russia Beyond. https://www.rbth.com/history/334286-why-were-disabled-people-persecuted-ussr.

[3] UN News. (2011). Children with disabilities in former Soviet countries face discrimination – UN. United Nations. https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/09/389352.