Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: De-institutionalisation refers to the depopulation of large psychiatric institutions, which was an important component of mental healthcare policy beginning in Europe and the USA in the middle to late 20th century. Growth of the psychiatric institutionInterestingly, there seems to have been little need for institutional care in Europe before the 18th century.The first purpose-built psychiatric institution in the UK, The Priory of Saint Mary of Bethlehem (later known as Bethlem or 'Bedlam'), was founded in 1247, but in 1700 was still the only public asylum in Britain, with 100 inmates.The next two centuries, however, saw a radical change, with the development of institutional confinement as the principal way of dealing with individuals who were deemed to be mentally ill, and by 1900 the total number of inmates in psychiatric institutions in the UK exceeded 100 000.[1] Initially, these places offered little more than confinement.However, in time, more humane treatment began to arise and it has been asserted that the institutions were the birthplace of psychiatry.This has implications for how psychiatry is viewed to this day, with a powerful and negative association of mental illness with removal to the 'loony-bin' .
Source: South African Medical Journal
DOI: 10.7196/samj.7733
Author: J Parker
Institution: University of Cape Town
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $311
OpenAlex ID: W2151741964