Description

Book Synopsis
In the past, our ideas of psychiatric hospitals and their history have been shaped by objects like straitjackets, cribs, and binding belts. These powerful objects were often used as a synonym for psychiatry and the way psychiatric patients were treated, yet very little is known about the agency of these objects and their appropriation by staff and patients. By focusing on material cultures, this book offers a new perspective on the history of psychiatry: it enables a narrative in which practicing psychiatry is part of a complex entanglement in which power is constantly negotiated. Scholars from different academic disciplines show how this material-based approach opens up new perspectives on the agency and imagination of men and women inside psychiatry.

Trade Review
"The transdisciplinary project has succeeded: The result is an outstanding volume with original contributions that advances the history of psychiatry and is also recommended for all those who are interested in the multifaceted work of objects." Heniette Voelker, H-Soz-u-Kult, 30.04.2021, translated from German

Material Cultures of Psychiatry

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    A Paperback / softback by Monika Ankele, Benoît Majerus

    £38.24

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      Book details

      Publisher Transcript Verlag
      Published 10 December 2021
      ISBN-13 9783837647884
      978-3837647884
      ISBN-10 3837647889
      Also in:
      Social and cultural history Medical and health informatics Psychoanalytical and Freudian psychology

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      In the past, our ideas of psychiatric hospitals and their history have been shaped by objects like straitjackets, cribs, and binding belts. These powerful objects were often used as a synonym for psychiatry and the way psychiatric patients were treated, yet very little is known about the agency of these objects and their appropriation by staff and patients. By focusing on material cultures, this book offers a new perspective on the history of psychiatry: it enables a narrative in which practicing psychiatry is part of a complex entanglement in which power is constantly negotiated. Scholars from different academic disciplines show how this material-based approach opens up new perspectives on the agency and imagination of men and women inside psychiatry.

      Trade Review
      "The transdisciplinary project has succeeded: The result is an outstanding volume with original contributions that advances the history of psychiatry and is also recommended for all those who are interested in the multifaceted work of objects." Heniette Voelker, H-Soz-u-Kult, 30.04.2021, translated from German

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