arrested development

{{Short description|Psychological disorder}}

{{about|the psychological disorder|other uses|Arrested development (disambiguation)}}

The term "arrested development" has had multiple meanings for over 200 years. In the field of medicine, the term "arrested development" was first used, circa 1835–1836, to mean a stoppage of physical development; the term continues to be used in the same way.{{Cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/arrested-development|title=Arrested development definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary|website=www.collinsdictionary.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-16}} In literature, Ernest Hemingway used the term in The Sun Also Rises, published in 1926: On page 51, Harvey tells Cohn, "I misjudged you [...] You're not a moron. You're only a case of arrested development."{{cite book|author=Hemingway, Ernest|title=The Sun Also Rises|location= New York|publisher= Scribner|date=1926|page=51|edition=First; print}}

In contrast, the UK's Mental Health Act 1983 used the term "arrested development" to characterize a form of mental disorder comprising severe mental impairment, resulting in a lack of intelligence. However, some researchers have objected to the notion that mental development can be "arrested" or stopped, preferring to consider mental status as continuing to develop in other ways. Consequently, the term "arrested development" is no longer used when referring to a developmental disorder in mental health.Mental Health Act 1983: an outline guide Useful summary of the Act from 'Mind including updated material to take account of the Mental Health Act 2007

In anthropology and archaeology, the term "arrested development" means that a plateau of development in some sphere has been reached. Often it is a technological plateau such as the development of high temperature ceramics without glaze because of a lack of materials, or copper smelting without the development of bronze, because of a lack of tin.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIRSDwAAQBAJ&q=anthropology+and+archaeology%2C+the+term+%22arrested+development%22&pg=PA106|title=From Stagnation to Transformation: A 21 Day Coaching Actuation Designed to Manumit PURPOSE|last=Pettyjohn|first=Clifton|date=2017-04-07|publisher=Clifton Pettyjohn|isbn=9781520906850|language=en}} Arrested development is key in the insight of self-domestication in the evolution of hominidae where it involves being in an environment that favors reduction in aggression, including interspecific and intraspecific antagonism, for survival, in favor of attitudes that favor living together in a group, social behavior, traits that favor the group as a whole to come to the front stage, elimination of bullies - individuals with an antisocial personality disorder.{{cite book|last1=Wrangham|first1=Richard|url=https://archive.org/details/newhumanistsscie00broc/page/99|title=The New Humanists: Science at the Edge|publisher=Sterling Publishing|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7607-4529-8|editor1-last=Brockman|editor1-first=John|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newhumanistsscie00broc/page/99 99–110]|chapter=The Evolution of Cooking|chapter-url={{Google books|Fb0EGAq5UmcC|page=99|plainurl=yes}}}}