This booklet, one of 16 designed for use in an Open University Course on the education of handicapped children in the United Kingdom, focuses on ways in which a disability is affected by social factors. Effects of geographic, economic, and cultural conditions are examined. Clinical and sociological perspectives of mental retardation are compared…

Presents secondary lessons on population growth and the social factors that influence it. Provides a simulation scenario in which students decide whether or not to raise the marital age or develop other population control policies. Includes charts, cartoons, and student work sheets. (CFR)