Teachers' attitudes towards plastic surgery in children with Down's syndrome.
Daily classroom contact makes teachers accept Down syndrome students’ natural appearance and oppose cosmetic surgery.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matousek et al. (1992) asked 132 Italian teachers what they thought about plastic surgery for children with Down syndrome.
They also recorded how much daily classroom contact each teacher had with these students.
What they found
Teachers who saw students every day were more likely to accept the children’s natural looks.
Teachers with little daily contact more often favored surgery to change appearance.
How this fits with other research
Jones et al. (1992) asked parents the same question in the same year. Parents also saw little benefit from the surgery.
Lenhard et al. (2007) later showed that Down syndrome attitudes keep shifting; mothers now feel more outside support yet more social exclusion.
Together the three papers show a steady message: surgery does not fix social acceptance—relationships do.
Why it matters
If you train staff or place students, share these findings. More time in class with peers and teachers builds real acceptance. No scalpel needed. Push for inclusive classrooms instead of cosmetic referrals.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The problem of whether to improve on the physical appearance of children with Down's syndrome by means of plastic surgery is a much debated question which involves bio-ethical and ideological concepts. In this research, the opinions of a group (n = 132) of Italian elementary and junior school teachers are investigated on the basis of a questionnaire. Data are analysed through the application of log-linear models, and parameter estimates are calculated for each response category and interactions between response categories and types of teachers. Results show a greater acceptance of children with Down's syndrome as they are by people who have daily experience of them and who can get to know them better from all points of view. On the other hand, plastic surgery for children with Down's syndrome is considered with more favour by people who are less psychologically involved with them.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 1992 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.1992.tb00490.x