The Confinement of the Insane: International Perspectives, 1800-1965

Description

The rise of the asylum constitutes one of the most profound, and controversial, events in the history of medicine. Recently, academics around the world have begun to direct their attention to the origins of the confinement of those deemed 'insane', exploring patient records in an attempt to understand the rise of the asylum within the wider context of social and economic change of nations undergoing modernisation. This edited volume brings together thirteen original research papers to answer key questions in the history of asylums. What forces led to the emergence of mental hospitals in different national contexts? To what extent did patient populations vary in terms of their psychiatric profile and socio-economic background? What was the role of families, communities and the medical profession in the confinement process? This volume therefore represents a landmark study in the history of psychiatry by examining asylum confinement in a global context.

Roy Porter was Professor of the Social History of Medicine, Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London. He died in March 2002. David Wright is Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences and Department of History, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.

'Dealing with the institutions and policies of countries with differing populations, traditions and cultures, these scholars largely eschew the angry and polemical writings of the 1960s and 1970s. Basing their analyses on archival data, they present nuanced and subtle interpretations that offer fresh insight into the mental-health policies of different nations.' Nature 'When put together these separate studies do give that new, comparative standpoint which is required to come to grips with vital but confusing aspect of medical history.' Church Times 'When put together these separate studies do give that new, comparative standpoint which is required to come to grips with this vital but confusing aspect of medical history.' Contemporary Review 'This is a micro-history of a high standard ...a first-rate book.' Health & History 'This volume ... is indeed enlightening.' Medical Journal World 'This author never failed to provide a worthwhile read ...'. Journal of Psychological Medicine