This study exao1ines sOlne clain1.ed causal faetol"s of m ental retardation , thernassociated societal attitude tOW31'ds m e ntal I'etardation, and its impact on the supportrnsys terns for persons with tTlenta i retardation in th e City Administt'ation of AddisrnAbaba.rnThe study includes both quantitative and qualitative reseal'eh d es ign s. A SelfReportrnQuestionnaire was prepared and administered fOl' 142 participants in the threerns h'ata (50 parents, 42 special needs teachers , and 50 ,'egu!ar e l e mentary schoolrnteachers) for th e quantitative int erpr e tation of the data . The data was analyzed th ,'oughrnthe application of both descriptive ( percentage, mean, and standard deviation) andrninferential CANOVA, Chi-square (xZ), Standar di zed Residuals (R) and C,'amer's Phirn(0)) s tati s tics,rnThe specific obj ective of the qualitative study was to understand the qual ity,rnquantity. current situation, and future pros pects of the support' systems for pel'son srnwith mental retardation, It vas a lso helpful to unders tand some c laimed causal factorsrnand s uppl e ments other findings , Thus, in the qualitative m e thod , indi v idual inte,'viewrnwas conducted vith 22 participants (7 leaders of special needs unit, 1 leader ofrnENA/ MRCY, 5 school directors, 6 special needs teachers. and 3 governmentrnofficials) whil e only e ight (4 special needs teacher s, and 4 parents) participants werernincluded in th e focu s group discussions, A ll the support providing organizations,rnschools , centers, and units were also visited by the researcher, The main pointsrngathered through thi s method wer'e explained and discussed briefly.rnThe researcher found that 80 percent of the total participants were sociallyrninteractive (65 percent hi g h ly and 15 percent occasionally socially interactive), whilernthe ,'est 20 percent of them wcr-e non-socially interactive individua ls with pers onsrnwith mental retardation_ Of a ll the participants all special needs teachel's, 90 percentrnof parents, and 54 pel'cent of regular school teachers have social interaction with thesernpeople. More interesting was that significant differences were observed both in therntype and frequency of social interaction among the total participants based on theirrnrelationship (parent, s pecial needs teachers, and regular school teache r) and religiousrnaffil iation,rnThe causal factors for mental retardation found to be unknown for most parents ofrnchildren with mental I-etardatioll. Based on the ranking of all the three groups ofrnparticipants th e organic/physi o logical related causes, accident, and cultural-familialrnfactors "vere chosen in that respective o rder. The causal factors related to God,rns uperna l untl beliefs and evi l spirits got the l a s t pt'jot-ity by e :'l. c h of the th" ee groupsrnand their curnul a tive participation.rnA ll the threc groups of participants have shown positive general attitude toward srnmental retardation and p ersons with mental retardation, There were no significantrng roup d ifferences on the gen e ral and the four specific dimens ion s of attitude base d onrntheil' ty pe of "elationship and types and levels of social interaction, A lthough theyrnhave shown good acceptance of the ri g hts of these community and understands b e ttel'rnthe mediation of mental r e tardation, they have shown general negative belief andrnsocial rejection . The effects of all the four biog raphic and socioeconomic variablesrn(sex, age, I'elig ion, and educational level) both on the general and specific dim.en s ion srnof th e parti c ipants ' attitude were insi g nificant,rnThe current situation of the s upport systems for children with mental retardationrnfound to be less organized, poor, and l imite d. The rate of school attendance,rncatchments, and Inaintenall.ce on the student population 'was very low, Hig h er rat e ofrnabsence, repetition and dropouts "ve re recorded in the different special needs units .rnLack of appropriate school facilities and Inatel'iais, trained human power, budget,rnawa,'eness and orientation were also the major setbacks on the developmen ts of th ernsupport systen1s. Mo"c worst was that the limited and unevenly distributed supportrnsystems increases the burde ns of fami ly melubers of children with m en tal retardationrnand facilitate the absence, repetition and dropout rates among these population.rnThus, social integ ration was the priol' recomme ndation. It should b e practicedrnthrough avareness and advocacy progran1 s through Ine dia. Opening of small centersrnIn every s m a l l city administration stratum (kebel e , for exan1ple) s hould bernimplernented. This will lead to the en v i s ion e d social integ ration , eventually ofrninclusion ,