The professional study of idiocy began within the discipline of medico-psychology and was taken up, later, by professionals in the fields of education, social work, and philanthropy. When medical research seemed to confirm the hereditary origin of mental ability, and as studies began to assert that a great deal of social problems were due to 'weakness of mind', men and women from these professions concerned themselves with the prevention of idiocy, primarily by segregation. As social commentators in late-Victorian England became increasingly concerned about the nation's apparent decline in economic and military competitiveness, these professionals and commentators began to stridently campaign for the detention of idiots in permanent colonies. This process continued during the Edwardian period when many professionals slowly gravitated to the eugenic-led campaign for control of the feeble-minded, a campaign which culminated in the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913.

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