Gender and Class in English Asylums, 1890-1914

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 1-13

3. The Making of the Patient Population

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 14-39

4. Medical Officers

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 40-64

5. Attendants and Nurses

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 65-90

6. The Asylum Regime

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 91-120

7. From Asylum to Mental Hospital

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 121-145

8. Ward Life

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 146-170

9. Conclusion

   • Louise Hide

   Pages 171-180

10. Back Matter

    Pages 181-240

    PDF

An unprecedented number of people were sent to 'lunatic asylums' in the nineteenth century. But what was life like inside? How was order maintained? And why were so many doctors on the verge of a breakdown themselves? This book provides a glimpse into the lives of patients and staff inside two London asylums at the turn of the twentieth century.

• Asylum
• Gender
• Class
• Lunatic
• Madness
• Insanity
• Mental disorder
• Mental illness
• Mental hospital
• Lunatic asylum
• Alienist
• Doctor
• Attendant
• Nurse
• Claybury
• Bexley Asylum
• Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones
• Dr TEK
• Stansfield
• Asylum patient
• 20th century
• English
• gender
• hospital
• twentieth century
• History of psychiatry
• Gender history
• Masculinities
• Women's history
• Institutional history
• History of hospitals
• London history

“Gender and Class in English Asylums, 1890–1914 is a successful transition in Hide’s research interests. … Gender and Class in English Asylums, 1890–1914 is an essential read for those beginning to grapple with the place of gender and class in British asylums.” (Jennifer Farquharson, History of Psychiatry, Vol. 26 (3), September, 2016)

“The book is written in such a way as to be easily accessible and enjoyed by readers who may not have previous knowledge of the asylum system. … this study is well researched, and the author shows a depth of understanding that makes this book an enjoyable read. … it will be useful to many scholars of asylum, medical, and social history.” (Dee Hoole, H-Disability, H-Net Reviews, h-net.org, June, 2016)

“Louise Hide’s Gender and Class in English Asylums, 1890–1914 is an excellent book. Inmany ways it returns readers to the central intellectual concerns of the vast asylum literature, and pivots on a historical interpretation of the ‘total institution’ concept examined by Erving Goffman. … This volume is a well-written history, one driven by intrinsically interesting narratives and accounts of these institutional worlds and their inhabitants.” (Catharine Coleborne, Social History of Medicine, October, 2015)

“Louise Hide’s meticulously researched book shows that this was far from the full story and that, on the contrary, it was a period of transition when interesting things were taking place even within the large institutions. … This highly recommended book shows conclusively that this was far being a period of stagnation in the development of institutional mental health provision.” (Leonard Smith, Medical History, Vol. 59 (3), July, 2015)

"Hide's insights into asylum life prior to the Great War make this an indispensable book for anyone interested in madness. She is not only interested in the lives of physicians, nurses, and attendants, but also in the lived experiences of patients." - Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

• Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

  Louise Hide

Louise Hide is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK where she completed her PhD and has been working as a researcher on a three-year Wellcome Trust funded project on the history of bodily pain. This is her second work of non-fiction.

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