Madhouses, Mad-Doctors, and Madmen: The Social History of Psychiatry in the Victorian Era

The Victorian Age saw the transformation of the madhouse into the asylum into the mental hospital; of the mad-doctor into the alienist into the psychiatrist; and of the madman (and madwoman) into the mental patient. In Andrew Scull's edited collection Madhouses, Mad-Doctors, and Madmen, contributors' essays offer a historical analysis of the issues that continue to plague the psychiatric profession today. Topics covered include the debate over the effectiveness of institutional or community treatment, the boundary between insanity and criminal responsibility, the implementation of commitment laws, and the differences in defining and treating mental illness based on the gender of the patient.

Author: Andrew Scull
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 08/01/1981
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.29lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.89d
ISBN: 9780812211191

About the Author
Andrew Scull is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego.