Smith, C. A. (2012) 'Visitation by God': rationalizing death in the Victorian Asylum. History of Psychiatry. 23(1), pp. 104-116. 0957-154X.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Abstract: | 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. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | History, nineteenth century, lunacy, asylum, death |
| Subjects: |
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC435 Psychiatry > RC450 Psychiatric hospitals D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > DA550 Victorian era, 1837-1901 R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC435 Psychiatry > RC512 Psychopathology. Mental disorders R Medicine > R Medicine (General) > R131 History of medicine. Medical expeditions |
| Creators: | Smith, Catherine A |
| Publisher: | Sage |
| Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: |
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > School of Social Sciences (to 2016) University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Education & Humanities > History Faculties > Faculty of Education & Humanities > History |
| Date: | 2012 |
| Date Type: | Publication |
| Page Range: | pp. 104-116 |
| Journal or Publication Title: | History of Psychiatry |
| Volume: | 23 |
| Number: | 1 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0957154X11429729 |
| ISSN: | 0957-154X |
| Status: | Published / Disseminated |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/6437 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Edit Item |
Altmetric
Altmetric
Altmetric