# Why Do Mentally Retarded People Have 'Bowl' Haircuts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584 "2004-03-26T15:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/1 "2004-03-26T15:55:50Z")
Why is it that mentally retarded people frequently have ‘bowl’ haircuts- straight, short bangs without any part, as if the person giving them their haircut had placed a bowl over their heads and used it as a template? Furthermore, sometimes the haircut appears too small for their heads, as if they had received a scalp transplant from an 8-year-old. It’s very rare that you would see such a hairstyle on a person who was not mentally retarded, but I’ve seen it on retarded people on numerous occasions. Why is this hairstyle so common for them? Are retarded people giving one another their haircuts?? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/2 "2004-03-26T16:06:25Z")
1. Sometimes mentally retarded people DO give each other haircuts. It’s called “Life Skills Class.” 2. Mentally retarded people in the care of the state or an institution are often given bowl haircuts due to the convenience and expense factors. Barbers and hairstylists seem to think their time is worth money. 3. A bowl cut can be done in a matter of a few minutes. Many mentally retarded people, particularly those in institutions, have behavior problems, including hyperactivity, and getting them to hold still long enough for a Farrah Fawcett feather cut would involve thorazine and a roll of duct tape. Generally, mentally retarded persons in the care of their families or the better institutions have haircuts like yours or mine, no big deal. But state-run institutions are famous for cutting costs in some rather odd ways, and haircuts are expensive and (one could argue) not absolutely necessary. When I worked in a state institution, I cut hair myself… and I have no training in hairstyling. I did what was necessary to keep their hair out of their faces, which had many of them looking like little lost Dutch boys, looking for dikes to poke their fingers in… no, no, wait, forget I said that… ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/3 "2004-03-26T16:11:51Z")
I was subjected to a bowl haircut as a child because it was low maintainance. It didn’t have to be parted, it was long enough to weigh down my cowlick and prevent my trademark rooster comb, but not so long as to require a lot of combing. Also, my mother thought it was cute. Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/4 "2004-03-26T18:10:34Z")
Well, in the case of my daughter it is much as **Master Wang-Ka** points out. She’s a mighty pain in the tuchus when it comes to getting her to sit still for an extended amount of time. That said, though, she looks damned cute with her coiff. Waste ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/5 "2004-03-26T19:05:21Z")
When you have a special needs child, sometimes the least of your worries is how their hair looks. Also, some forms of retardation are due to a genectic problem which can also cause the head to be oddly or disproportionally shaped. This might cause them to look like it’s the haircut that is making them look odd. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/6 "2004-03-26T21:21:47Z")
My niece is high-function and lives on her own, but still the haircut of choice is short and simple. Folks with mental challenges often will obsess and get into what I call “do-loops” (my old FORTRAN training). Keeping things simple helps them live more independently. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/7 "2004-03-26T21:23:21Z")
Also, some retarded people function best within an extremely rigid structure, which can extend to what cloithes they wear, which pocket they carry their change in, etc. It could be that some people wear bowl haircuts because they’ve always worn the same haircut, and changing the style would be extremely unsettling for them. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/8 "2004-03-26T22:31:26Z")
My wife and I run two day programs for developmentally disabled adults and out of about 150 adults, I’d say about 5-10 have bowl type haircuts. So when I saw the OP, I was just about ready to rip him a new one for stereotyping; but then many of you who also know of people w/DD, made a couple of good points on why a bowl haircut is normally used, although it is an exception to the rule with the folks we work with. Some of the them have nicer hair-dos than some of my employees! I guess it comes down to weighing the benefits between simplicity and keeping things routine (familiar to the person w/DD), or taking a chance with someone’s hair in the quest for style, and keeping your fingers crossed that they will not get upset with the change. Our folks have been out of institutions for quite some time, so I think most are quite able to handle a change in hairstyle. As a matter of fact, I do need a haircut… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mentally-retarded-people-have-bowl-haircuts/236584/9 "2004-03-26T23:17:18Z")
This is just a WAG to add to some of the more informed posts already here…if I remember correctly from college, one of the symptoms of Down’s Syndrome is extermely straight hair, head, body, and public alike. Something about little or helix in the hair follicles. Very straight hair might lend itself to the bowl haircut.