Regulation of madness in England from the 17th century to the early 20th century: Part 1

				<< Modules List
			
			The regulation of madness in England from the 17th century to the early 20th century: Part 1
			
					Introduction
				
					Section 1: Background
				
					Section 2: The regulation of madness before 1800
				
					Summary
				
					Appendix: transcripts

The regulation of madness in England from the 17th century to the early 20th century: Part 1

by Dr Lisetta Lovett

Models of madness in the Western world: Part 1 The Enlightenment was a period when philosophy and science rapidly progressed, leading to ground-breaking ideas which were to influence how society thought about mental illness, its causes and treatment.

This module is the first in a two-part series reviewing major concepts of madness throughout history, placing particular emphasis on developments during the Enlightenment period.

We will describe:

how the poor, vagrant and criminally insane were disposed of in society up until 1800, with reference to judicial decisions about the definition of insanity.

significant legislation up to 1800, including that which was introduced to regulate private madhouses.

Start the module

In the second module in this series, The regulation of madness in England from the 17th century to the early 20th century: Part 2, we look at the reform movement of the 19th century which led to significant statutory changes, as well as the major changes in mental health act legislation during the early part of the 20th century.

^{Image source: Wellcome Library, London}

If you like this module, you may also be interested in:

The regulation of madness in England from the 17th century to the early 20th century: Part 2 by Dr Lisetta Lovett

Mental Capacity Act, 2005: Module 1 and Module 2 by Professor A. Holland

The Irish Mental Health Act 2001 by Dr Larkin Feeney and Dr Brendan Kelly

Download Take-home notes to print and annotate

Module information | Module contents | About the author | Take-home notes | Feedback

Printable version