Brooklyn State Hospital A Historical Sketch and a Survey of Its Program: 1935-1949
Abstract
Background of the Study. Mental illness was once considered a sin or the consequence of sin. In ancient times, the mentally ill were looked upon as pests to be destroyed as ruthlessly as one stamps out the life of an insect. They were regarded as criminals, witches, or paupers. They were once hanged or burned as witches, particularly during the terrible witchcraft mania that swept through Europe and parts of America in the seventeenth century. Later, they were placed in poorhouses as common paupers. William Hogarth’s classic engraving of the eighteenth-century bedlam in London, in his series on "The Rake’s Progress", reflects their treatment in the early lunatic asylums.
Subject Area
Social work|Social studies education|Mental health
Recommended Citation
Woods, Robert Delmar, "Brooklyn State Hospital A Historical Sketch and a Survey of Its Program: 1935-1949" (1950). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI30724931.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI30724931
