<i>Museums of Madness</i> Revisited

Scull, Andrew

doi:10.1093/shm/6.1.3

Cited by 19 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…From the 1860s, the continued growth in asylum populations and their steady rates of mortality formed part of a growing concern over whether the asylum project was working (Clark, 1981;Mellett, 1982;Scull, 1979b). The gloomiest prognostications among British medico-psychologists came in Henry Maudsley's work with his focus on the hereditary nature of insanity and the limitations this placed on cure (Turner, 1988).…”

Section: Death and The Public Asylum Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The politics of asylumdom and professional interests has been well documented by Scull (1979b), Mellett (1982) and Bynum (1989). In general, while medical theories and medical practitioners came to predominate in the nineteenth century, for much of the period medical and moral therapeutics were combined, and to a large extent this fusion was also exemplified in discussions about fatality and lunacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the optimistic claims of those arguing for reform, it was still recognized and much publicized that insanity was a dangerous disease and one that by all accounts was on the increase (Bucknill and Tuke, 1858; see also : Beveridge, 1995;Bynum, 1989;Hare, 1983Hare, , 1986Hare, , 1988Scull, 1979bScull, , 1984Turner, 1992). Aggregate numbers of those institutionalized as insane were continuing to grow, and many contemporaries recognized that these figures represented only the tip of the iceberg (Bartlett, 1999: App.1, 253-65).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘Visitation by God’: rationalizing death in the Victorian asylum

Smith

2012

Hist Psychiatry

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This article argues that death from insanity raised serious questions for the medical profession and for those who promoted the public asylum movement in the nineteenth century. While the medical emphasis on the somatic origins of insanity was increasingly accepted, limited observable signs of disease in the brain at post-mortem made it difficult to explain cause of death. This posed problems for a growing county asylum movement which was justified on the basis that insanity was a treatable disease and thus mortality rates would naturally decline. As asylum populations continued to grow and mortality rates remained little changed, statistics on lunacy ultimately became not the predicted measure of success but instead clear evidence of failure.

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Section: Death and The Public Asylum Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘Visitation by God’: rationalizing death in the Victorian asylum

Smith

2012

Hist Psychiatry

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“…This topic has occupied social historians of psychiatry and cannot be gone into in detail here (Scull 1979;Fabrega 1989d;Berrios 1988a). This topic has occupied social historians of psychiatry and cannot be gone into in detail here (Scull 1979;Fabrega 1989d;Berrios 1988a).…”

Section: Conceptualizations Of Hbb In 19th Century European Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cultural analysis of human behavioral breakdowns: An approach to the ontology and epistemology of psychiatric phenomena

Fàbrega

1993

Cult Med Psych

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This paper explores the usefulness of a concept of "human behavioral breakdowns" for studying psychiatric phenomena from a cross-cultural standpoint. The kinds of conceptualizations that are available in the English literature about human behavioral breakdowns across societies are reviewed. The way these breakdowns have been handled in the Western European Tradition of medicine is given special emphasis. Attention is focused on schizophrenia as one of the modern "disease" concepts of psychiatry that is a variant of human behavioral breakdowns. The essay then looks at "schizophrenia" using contemporary ideas about cultural relativism as these apply to the study of psychiatric phenomena in relation to society. Perspectives about the variable as versus the invariant in schizophrenia are reviewed.

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“…Although a considerable literature exists on the philosophical underpinnings of psychiatry in the late nineteenth century (Busfield 1986, Donnelly 1983, Scull 1982, little attempt has been made to examine the effects of such philosophy on the work of asylum nurses. In undertaking such an exploration, the extent of the influence of positivistic thought on those who have worked and are working with the mentally ill in this century becomes apparent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of positivistic thought on nineteenth century asylum nursing

Chung¹,

Nolan

1994

Journal of Advanced Nursing

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The development of positivism, which had a considerable influence on the evolution of psychiatric thought and practice during the second half of the nineteenth century, is outlined. It was within this intellectual framework that figures such as Kraepelin, Bleuler and Schneider developed psychiatric nosologies and diagnostic criteria for certain mental illnesses. While there was little scientific evidence to support the claim that medical treatments had any beneficial effects on pyschiatric disorders, nevertheless psychiatric institutions were established in the mid-nineteenth century based on the medical model. Nurses were expected to observe, collect and report data on mental patients which were then presented to doctors for analysis. The intellectual climate of the asylums was such that nurses were not encouraged to question the scientific principles upon which the therapeutic regime was based, nor were they encouraged to seek a rationale for their daily observations and data collection. The specialized training for asylum nurses which was introduced towards the end of the nineteenth century did not give nurses their own professional identity, but rather reinforced the supremacy of medical knowledge in the care of the mentally ill. Trained nurses enhanced medical credibility, but did not progress care of the mentally ill because their training did not imply or encourage questioning of the positivistic basis of psychiatric treatment.

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Museums of Madness Revisited

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

‘Visitation by God’: rationalizing death in the Victorian asylum

‘Visitation by God’: rationalizing death in the Victorian asylum

A cultural analysis of human behavioral breakdowns: An approach to the ontology and epistemology of psychiatric phenomena

The influence of positivistic thought on nineteenth century asylum nursing

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