Discovering the History of Psychiatry / Edition 1

by Mark S. Micale, Roy Porter

Overview

Psychiatry and psychology, including psychoanalysis, have exercised enormous cultural and scientific influence in our century, and an important part of the growth of these fields has been their attempt to construct accounts of their own disciplinary pasts. Yet these accounts, which form the collective memory of the psychiatric profession, have varied greatly. In fact, the history of psychiatry has emerged as one of the most rapidly-growing and controversy-ridden areas of commentary in recent years. This book brings together twenty studies by a cast of eminent authors—physicians, social scientists, and humanists from Europe and North America—who explore the many complex interpretive and ideological dimensions of history writing about the psychological sciences. It includes chapters on the history of the asylum, Freud biography, anti-psychiatry in the United States and abroad, feminist interpretations of psychiatry's past, and historical accounts of Nazism and psychotherapy, as well as discussions of many individual historical figures and movements. This book represents the first attempt to study comprehensively the multiple mythologies that have grown up around the history of madness and the origin, functions, and validity of these myths in our psychological century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195077391
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/17/1994
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	304,054
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Micale, Mark S., PhD (Yale Univ); Porter, Roy, PhD (Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine)

Fifteen of the contributors come from the U.S., but five other countries are represented. The contributors represent the disciplines of history, philosophy, psychiatry, sociology, theology, health care policy, public affairs, and medical humanities.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Reflections on Psychiatry and Its Histories, R. Porter and M.S. MicaleI. Early Developments2. On the Origins of Psychiatric Historiography in Nineteenth-Century Germany, O. Marx3. Early American Historians of Psychiatry, 1910-1960, G. MoraII. Five Major Voices4. Ida Macalpine and Richard Hunter: History Between Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry, R. Porter5. George Rosen and the History of Mental Illness, E.T. Morman6. Henri F. Ellenberger: The History of Psychiatry as the History of the Unconscious, M.S. Micale7. Jean Starobinski: The History of Psychiatry as the Cultural History of Consciousness, F. VidalIII. The Psychoanalytic Strain8. A History of Freud Biography, E. Young-Bruehl9. "A Whole Climate of Opinion": Writing and Rewriting the History of Psychoanalysis, J. Forrester10. Philip Rieff: The Critic of Psychoanalysis as Cultural Theorist, K. PiverIV. Historical Themes and Topics11. Les Mythes D'Origines in the History of Psychiatry, P. Vandermeersch12. "Le Geste de Pinel": The History of a Psychiatric Myth, D. Weiner13. The History and Historiography of Psychiatry in Italy, P. Guarnieri14. The History of the Asylum Revisited: Personal Reflections, G. Grob15. German Psychiatrists, Psychoanalysts, and Psychotherapists During the Nazi Period: A Historiographical Survey, G. Cocks16. Heroes and Non-Heroes: Recurring Themes in the History of Soviet Russian Psychiatry, J. BrownV. Critics of Psychiatry17. The Rhetorical Paradigm in Psychiatric History: Thomas Szasz, Psychiatric History, and the Myth of Mental Illness, R. Vatz and L. Weinberg18. Michel Foucalt's Phanomologie des Krankengeistes, G. Gutting19. Feminist Histories of Psychiatry, N. Tomes20. History and Anti-Psychiatry in France, J. Postel and D. Allen21. Psychiatry and Anti-Psychiatry in the United States, N. Dain

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Harry Prosen, MD, MSc (Medical College of Wisconsin)
Description: This book gathers together a diversity of views and descriptions of the history of psychiatry and the important historians themselves.
Purpose: The book was inspired by the meeting of 200 scholars gathered in the Netherlands in 1990 to share ideas about the history of the psychological sciences. The objectives are to explore the large number of complex interpretations and accounts of the history of psychiatry. The book is an unusual and stimulating contribution. It is the first significant approach of this kind.
Audience: The book is stated to be written for anyone interested in the science of the mind. It is extremely detailed, leaves very little out, and is probably a fascinating read, even for the lay public. The many authors are all noted scholars and authorities.
Features: The references are detailed and few. The book is well indexed and contains a good table of contents. The book is so full of information, tightly written, that a first glance does not reveal how quickly it reads.
Assessment: The book is as much a critique of previous historians as the history of psychiatry. It analyzes the views of previous authors and compares and contrasts various biographers of Freud and others. There is some overlap in the various chapters and some repetition, but the book is highly interesting and a pleasure to read.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

This book gathers together a diversity of views and descriptions of the history of psychiatry and the important historians themselves. "The book was inspired by the meeting of 200 scholars gathered in the Netherlands in 1990 to share ideas about the history of the psychological sciences. The objectives are to explore the large number of complex interpretations and accounts of the history of psychiatry. The book is an unusual and stimulating contribution. It is the first significant approach of this kind. "The book is stated to be written for anyone interested in the science of the mind. It is extremely detailed, leaves very little out, and is probably a fascinating read, even for the lay public. The many authors are all noted scholars and authorities. "The references are detailed and few. The book is well indexed and contains a good table of contents. The book is so full of information, tightly written, that a first glance does not reveal how quickly it reads. "The book is as much a critique of previous historians as the history of psychiatry. It analyzes the views of previous authors and compares and contrasts various biographers of Freud and others. There is some overlap in the various chapters and some repetition, but the book is highly interesting and a pleasure to read.

Harry Prosen