Course:HIST317/Victorian-Edwardian
THE SUPPRESSION OF DEGENERACY
Transition from physical restraint and punishment of the degenerate labelled insane towards the more humane treatment that occurred upon changing views during the Victorian/Edwardian era. Society was then seen as responsible for reclaiming the insane and curing those who could be helped back towards the morals and attitudes of the majority.
Picture 1 -before 1845 no single code for treatment of insane a)subscription hospitals such as Bethlem run on charitable basis -Commissioners of Lunacy in London area in charge of inspection -in 1845 many of insane were in prisons and workhouses (under criminal code/Poor Law); people also kept confined to their homes where there was no protection or control -by 1845 term “insane” replaced “lunatics” (up to that point no distinction had been made between mentally ill and mentally defective-same administration and treatment) -1845 Lunatics Act was passed after Lunacy Commissioners inspected all types of institutions w/ the insane and make a report to Parliament
Picture 2 -this act covered all but Bethlem (independent of control until 1853) and those confined in homes....Bethlem hospital also charged a fee for visitors to come and view the insane for amusement -Bethlem changed its practices after inquiries were made in the middle of the 19thC, and turned to more human practices (as it was known for it’s particularly harsh conditions)...by 1864 criminally insane were separated and moved to Broadmoor
Picture 3 -Rush’s tranquilliser (picture) as an example of earlier “treatment” of patients (bound every part of the body and confined it, prevented the muscles from moving, reduced force and frequency of pulse, position of head and feet allowed for easy application of cold water/ice to one part of the body as well as warm water to another -effects=sedation and composure for even the most difficult patients)---all according to a letter from Benjamin Rush a)another example would be Erasmus Darwin’s rotating chair b)17 and 18th C. loss or reason seen as loss of humanity -county asylums and the mad doctors who worked in them rise in public prestige a)they had a lack of formal training but these doctors were able to interchange views and experiences with each other (much had already been written on the moral management of the insane) -Medical Registration Act of 1858 (set up register of doctors who had to pass prescribed exams) -Mad House act develops in order to better certify doctors -forms of record keeping developed to better access info on patients -however, rise of moral therapy threatened newly established income, prestige, and medical theories of these mad doctors Picture 4 -example of depiction of a very changed Bethlem hospital (patients given jobs and medical treatment such as chloral hydrate (a sedative and sleep-inducing drug)...even allowed leisurely enjoyments...wards better furnished) -William Turke ushers in movement towards “moral management” at the York Retreat (trust sympathy, and simple forms fo group activity) as opposed to old physical methods discredited (bleeding, purging, intimidation, leg-locks, and strait jackets and other methods of physical restraint)
>new system of non-restraint attempted (value in power of self-control)-rediscovery of humaneness of insane
-growing faith in capacity of human improvement through social and environmental manipulation led to more humane treatment -institutions= “a machine for the social production of guilt” Andrew Scull, “Madness, Mad-Doctors and Madmen” -new stress on the importance of cure a)link between action and consequence (responsible for one’s own punishment) b)idea that the insane could be repaired so that they could conform to the bourgeois rationality C) reclaim the insane!