Undergraduate Course: Madness, Psychiatry and Society in Britain since 1700 (ECSH10111)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will introduce students to key debates and approaches in the social history of madness. We will explore the forces -- social, medical and political -- that have shaped definitions of, attitudes and responses to madness in post-1700 Britain, how madness and its treatment have been experienced, and the impact upon all of this of an emerging psychiatric profession. |
| Course description |
This course will introduce students to key debates and approaches in the social history of madness, through in-depth analysis of this vibrant field's scholarship in conjunction with a rich range of primary source materials. We will explore the forces -- social, medical and political -- that have shaped definitions of, attitudes and responses to madness in post-1700 Britain. The impact of an emerging psychiatric profession will be examined, alongside the searing critiques it would be subjected to from fellow healthcare professionals, scholars, patients and 'survivors'. We will also consider how both madness and its treatment have been experienced, and the methodological complexity of accessing and assessing these experiences.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | Students MUST NOT also be taking
Madness and Society in Britain since c.1830 (ECSH10083)
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Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Students should only be enrolled on this course with approval from the History Honours Programme Administrator. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- critically evaluate scholarship and primary source materials relating to the history of madness and mental healthcare in modern Britain
- develop and sustain scholarly arguments, utilising relevant evidence
- engage constructively with other students through classroom discussion
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Reading List
Peter Bartlett and David Wright (eds), Outside the Walls of the Asylum: The History of Care in the Community, 1750-2000 (1999)
Robert Ellis, Sarah Kendal and Steven Taylor (eds), Voices in the History of Madness: Personal and Professional Perspectives on Mental Health and Illness (2021)
Alison Haggett, A History of Male Psychological Disorders in Britain, 1945-1980 (2015)
Despo Kritsotaki, Vicky Long and Matthew Smith (eds), Deinstitutionalisation and After: Post-War Psychiatry in the Western World (2016)
Tracey Loughran, 'A Crisis of Masculinity? Re-Writing the History of Shell-Shock and Gender in First World War Britain', History Compass, 11:9 (2013), 727-38
Pauline Prior and Bernadette Hayes, 'Changing Places: Men Replace Women in Mental Health Beds in Britain', Social Policy and Administration, 35:4 (2001), 397-410
Andrew Scull (ed.), Cultural Sociology of Mental Illness: An A-Z Guide (2014)
Leonard Smith, Lunatic Hospitals in Georgian England, 1750-1830 (2007)
Barbara Taylor, 'The Demise of the Asylum in Late 20th-Century Britain: A Personal History', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 21 (2011), 193-215
Jane Ussher, 'The Madness of Women: Myth and Experience', in David McCallum (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences (2022), 1853-76
Keir Waddington, 'The Rise of the Asylum', in Keir Waddington, An Introduction to the Social History of Medicine: Europe since 1500 (2011), 317-338
OisÃn Wall, The British Anti-Psychiatrists: From Institutional Psychiatry to the Counter-Culture, 1960-1971 (2017) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Assimilate, process and communicate a wide range of information from a variety of sources
Process and critically assess information derived from historical research, utilising theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills specific to the subject area
Analyse and critically evaluate ideas, evidence and experiences
Master practical skills in accessing and interpreting historical sources
Construct and pursue a coherent and well evidenced argument |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gayle Davis
Tel:
Email: Gayle.Davis@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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