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1. Dr. Summers tells us “one of the earliest iterations of mental hygiene was the practice of “boarding out.” (200) What do you think of this practice? Did it help the patient acclimate to their community?
2. The book emphasizes that “racist assumptions figured into the diagnostic and therapeutic assessments” of African American mental patients. (213) What kind of “racist assumptions about the black psyche” is Dr. Summers referring to? (216)
3. Chapter 9 tells us following WWII younger psychiatrists “sought to infuse the profession with a more socially responsible vision “based on their observations and interactions with military patients.”(249) Is social psychiatry a by-product of wartime trauma? If so, why do you think the “shell shocked” generation of traumatized WWI veterans were largely ignored by the psychiatric community.
Submitted by Bonnie Akkerman I pledge…
1. Chapter 7 of madness in the city puts reform into the context of politics at the time, especially that of the progressive movement. As such I must ask due to varying nature of the progressive movement. Was there any extreme backlash within the congressional halls to this change in mental care beyond the government’s refusal to use funds for a new hospital?
2. Why do you think the proposal for the black only mental asylum within the District. As an attempt to reinforce segregation in mental care never came to fruition within the District? Was it lack of funds or congressional approval?
-Parker Siebenschuh I pledge
1. According to Chapter 7 in the Summers reading, the laws surrounding mental health (or mental hygiene) appear to have stagnated circa 1904, resulting in mental patients being treated no better than common criminals (192-194). Why do you think this was so? I'd like to discuss the historical context and what movements and events (e.g. the World Wars, Great Depression, etc.) that may have impacted the capital's decisions to improve lunacy laws.
2. According to page 240 in the Summers reading, a female attendant comments on how a black attendant would “run right over” a white attendant if they were there slightly longer. My question is this: was this not the case the other way around? If an attendant had more experience (regardless of race) would they not try to do the same thing? Is this not the case in an everyday average job? Or is what makes different simple because this just discrimination fueled by stereotypes and racism?
Submitted by Lyndsey Clark. I pledge…