gratefully acknowledge their support. We would also like to thank Irene Bevc for her efforts as a research assistant on this project and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nitza B.

Professional staff in four state facilities for individuals with mental retardation were surveyed to determine their perceptions, knowledge and opinions regarding the use of psychotropic medication. A large majority of the 377 respondents indicated that the physicians in their facilities were primarily responsible for medication-related decisions. Under ideal conditions, however, all professional staff and parents were seen as having a greater influence in the decision-making process. Aggression, delusions and hallucinations, self-injury, other psychiatric disorders, and anxiety were rated as disorders most likely to result in medication therapy. Behaviour modification was viewed as a suitable alternative to drug treatment for acting out and aggression. The professionals indicated that behavioural observation was the most influential assessment technique in current usage, followed by global impressions and informal diaries. Over 80% of the respondents perceived their preservice and inservice training on issues related to the use of psychotropic medication to treat behaviour problems as inadequate, with 96% of them desiring continuing education. These findings were compared to data from similar studies of populations with other disabilities, and suggestions for modifications in the current decision-making processes related to the use of psychotropic medication in institutionalized individuals with mental retardation are discussed.

This research compared 40 adults with mild developmental disabilities (DD) and 40 nondelayed adults (ND) in terms of knowledge of legal terms and court proceedings. For all of the 34 terms studied, with the exception of "police officer" there were significant differences between the DD and ND groups with respect to degree of conceptual understanding of terms. Results indicate that all but 6 terms assessed (adjourn, allegation, crown attorney, defendant, prosecute, and court reporter) were well-defined by 85% or more of ND participants. In contrast, only 8 of the terms (police officer, lawyer, jail, court, lie, truth, judge, and witness) were reasonably conceptually understood by at least 75% of DD participants. Reported familiarity with terms in DD participants is not a reliable indicator of actual familiarity with terms. Results are discussed with respect to the need for education of DD individuals and legal professionals to support participation and fair treatment of DD individuals in legal situations.To date, very little research has been conducted to examine understanding of legal proceedings and terminology in people with developmental disabilities (DD). People with DD, however, are increasingly coming into contact with the criminal justice system. This is in part due to the fact that over the past decade it has come to light that people with DD are significantly over-represented in cases of physical, sexual, and

Sixty-one parents of 43 neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit were interviewed within 3 days of their first conference with the neonatologist to assess their needs for medical information. The conference with the physician and the interview with the investigator were audiotaped. Information given by the physician and information recalled by the parents was categorized and rated by the investigator. The physicians gave very detailed information about diagnosis in 77% of cases whereas 39% of the parents recalled diagnostic information in great detail. Respective percentages for prognosis were 16 and 33; for current management (eg, investigation, therapy), 28 and 66; and for cause of illness, 16 and 18. The statistical significance of the differences between the very detailed information in the physician-parent conferences and in the parent-investigator interviews was, by category,<.002,<.041,<.004, and not significant, respectively. Information in the respective categories was described as "most helpful" by 20%, 67%, 90%, and 8% of parents. All but one of the parents stated that they wanted the whole truth. Physician uncertainty in providing information was significantly associated with severity of illness. It is concluded that while parents wanted information in all categories, they paid most attention to that relating to management. Physician-parent discordances with respect to information about management, diagnosis, and prognosis suggest directions for future investigation of the optimal content of information for parents in this context.

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