Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

'Visitation by God': rationalizing death in the Victorian Asylum

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

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