This volume had its origin in a stimulating seminar series devoted to historical perspectives on gender and class in the history of psychiatry. The papers presented outlined a number of important perspectives on the place of gender and class within the history of psychiatry and, more broadly, medicine and society. There were also considerable inter-relationships between the various thematic strands developed in the papers - so much so, that organisers, speakers and participants alike were keen to see a published outcome.
An unprecedented number of people were sent to 'lunatic asylums' in the nineteenth century. But what was life like inside? How was order maintained? And why were so many doctors on the verge of a breakdown themselves? This book provides a glimpse into the lives of patients and staff inside two London asylums at the turn of the twentieth century.
The history of the voluntary sector in British towns and cities has received increasing scholarly attention in recent years. Nevertheless, whilst there have been a number of valuable contributions looking at issues such as charity as a key welfare provider, charity and medicine, and charity and power in the community, there has been no book length exploration of the role and position of the recipient. By focusing on the recipients of charity, rather than the donors or institutions, this volume tackles searching questions of social control and cohesion, and the relationship between providers and recipients in a new and revealing manner. It is shown how these issues changed over the course of the nineteenth century, as the frontier between the state and the voluntary sector shifted away from charity towards greater reliance on public finance, workers' contributions, and mutual aid. In turn, these new sources of assistance enriched civil society, encouraging democratization, empowerment and social inclusion for previously marginalized members of the community. The book opens with an introduction that locates medicine, charity and mutual aid within their broad historiographical and urban contexts. Twelve archive-based, inter-related chapters follow. Their main chronological focus is the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which witnessed such momentous changes in the attitudes to, and allocation of, charity and poor relief. However, individual chapters on the early modern period, the eighteenth century and the aftermath of the Second World War provide illuminating context and help ensure that the volume provides a systematic overview of the subject that will be of interest to social, urban, and medical historians.
This open access book is the first comparative study of public, voluntary and private asylums in nineteenth-century Ireland. Examining nine institutions, it explores whether concepts of social class and status and the emergence of a strong middle class informed interactions between gender, religion, identity and insanity. It questions whether medical and lay explanations of mental illness and its causes, and patient experiences, were influenced by these concepts. The strong emphasis on land and its interconnectedness with notions of class identity and respectability in Ireland lends a particularly interesting dimension. The book interrogates the popular notion that relatives were routinely locked away to be deprived of land or inheritance, querying how often “land grabbing” Irish families really abused the asylum system for their personal economic gain. The book will be of interest to scholars of nineteenth-century Ireland and the history of psychiatry and medicine in Britain and Ireland.
Dangerous Motherhood is the first study of the close and complex relationship between mental disorder and childbirth. Exploring the relationship between women, their families and their doctors reveals how explanations for the onset of puerperal insanity were drawn from a broad set of moral, social and environmental frameworks, rather than being bound to ideas that women as a whole were likely to be vulnerable to mental illness. The horror of this devastating disorder which upturned the household, turned gentle mothers into disruptive and dangerous mad women, was magnified by it occurring at a time when it was anticipated that women would be most happy in the fulfillment of their role as mothers.
Madness in the Family explores how colonial families coped with insanity through a trans-colonial study of the relationships between families and public colonial hospitals for the insane in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand between 1860 and 1914.
This book shows how interpretations of suicidal motives were guided by gendered expectations of behaviour, and that these expectations were constructed to create meaning and understanding for family, friends and witnesses. Providing an insight into how people of this era understood suicidal behaviour and motives, it challenges the assertion that suicide was seen as a distinctly feminine act, and that men who took their own lives were feminized as a result. Instead, it shows that masculinity was understood in a more nuanced way than gender binaries allow, and that a man's masculinity was measured against other men. Focusing on four common narrative types; the love-suicide, the unemployed suicide, the suicide of the fraudster or speculator, and the suicide of the dishonoured solider, it provides historical context to modern discussions about the crisis of masculinity and rising male suicide rates. It reveals that narratives around male suicides are not so different today as they were then, and that our modern model of masculinity can be traced back to the 19th century.
This is a groundbreaking examination of the attempts to regulate female sexuality in twentieth-century Northern Ireland, which opens up new and exciting areas of a previously neglected history. A wide-ranging study, it explores the sexual experiences of women in the context of the distinctive religious, political and social circumstances of Northern Ireland during the twentieth century. The commonality of attitudes of the Catholic Churches toward the control of female sexuality is revealed, along with the similarity of views concerning female behaviour. While the ways in which various authorities tried to control female behaviour are explored, it is also argued that women were not simply victims, but employed a variety of survival strategies and active agency, no matter how difficult their circumstances were. This work will appeal not only to an academic audience but also to non-academic readers interested in a new and exciting view of Northern Ireland’s past.
Contributors include Denyse Baillargeon (Université de Montréal), Bettina Bradbury (York University), Josette Brun (Université Laval), Nancy Christie (Hamilton), Gwendolyn Davies (University of New Brunswick), Michael Gauvreau (McMaster University), Peter Gossage (Université de Sherbrooke), Ollivier Hubert (Université de Montréal), Jack Little (Simon Fraser University), James Moran (University of Prince Edward Island), Suzanne Morton (McGill University), Matt Savelli (McMaster University), Michele Stairs (York University), James Struthers (Trent University), and David Wright (McMaster University).
This historical study of mental healthcare workers’ efforts to educate the public challenges the supposition that public prejudice generates the stigma of mental illness. Drawing on extensive archival research, this book argues that psychiatrists, nurses and social workers generated representations of mental illness which reflected their professional aspirations, economic motivations and perceptions of the public. Sharing in the stigma of their patients, healthcare workers sought to enhance the prestige of their professions by focussing upon the ability of psychiatry to effectively treat acute cases of mental disturbance. As a consequence, healthcare workers inadvertently reinforced the stigma attached to serious and enduring mental distress. This book makes a major contribution to the history of mental healthcare, and critiques current campaigns which seek to end mental health discrimination for failing to address the political, economic and social factors which fuel discrimination. It will appeal to academics, students, healthcare practitioners and service users.
