what was the moral treatment movement

Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry

or psychology and partly from religious or moral concerns.

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What is the moral treatment movement in psychology?

The moral treatment movement was initially opposed by those in the mental health profession. By the mid-19th century, however, many psychologists had adopted the strategy. They became advocates of moral treatment, but argued that since the mentally ill often had separate physical/organic problems, medical approaches were also necessary.

What is the history of moral treatment?

Moral treatment developed in the context of the Enlightenment and its focus on social welfare and individual rights. At the start of the 18th century, the "insane" were typically viewed as wild animals who had lost their reason.

Is moral treatment really a new form of moral oppression?

In the 1960s, Michel Foucault renewed the argument that moral treatment had really been a new form of moral oppression, replacing physical oppression, and his arguments were widely adopted within the antipsychiatry movement.

What is moral treatment for the mentally ill?

Moral treatment was widely believed to be kinder than other types of treatment available to the mentally ill because it limited the use of physical restraint and did not condone corporal punsishment.

What was the moral treatment system?

Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry or psychology and partly from religious or moral concerns.

Why was moral treatment significant?

Its most important contribution, certainly, was fighting the dehumanisation of the mentally ill – by recognising the rationality of sufferers and the power of compassion in helping them, moral treatment changed the face of mental health care forever.

Who led the moral treatment movement?

Chief among those who spearheaded introduction of the moral treatment movement in the United States were Benjamin Rush, Dorothea Lynde Dix, Thomas Scattergood, and Thomas Story Kirkbride. Benjamin Rush was a physician and also Surgeon General of the Continental Armies.

Why did the moral treatment movement fail?

They found that overcrowding, insufficient funds, a decline in public opinion, and the emergence of new treatment theories led to the shift from moral treatment to mistreatment in American asylums.

Was moral treatment successful?

Moral treatment was short-lived, enjoying popularity for less than fifty years. Despite this fleeting success, it is evident that the movement from constraint and repression to kind treatment and perceiving the mad as rational beings was a fundamental transition in the history of psychiatry.

What is moral treatment quizlet?

Moral Treatment. acknowledged the connection of the mind and body for health maintenance. Provided the mentally ill with. opportunity to function and adapt to their environments through a routine and activity engagement.

What was Dorothea Dix known for?

Dorothea Dix played an instrumental role in the founding or expansion of more than 30 hospitals for the treatment of the mentally ill. She was a leading figure in those national and international movements that challenged the idea that people with mental disturbances could not be cured or helped.

Who insisted on moral treatment?

In the United States, the first proponent of moral treatment was Benjamin Rush. A Philadelphia physician, Rush had been one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. For Rush, the hustle and bustle of modern life contributed to mental diseases.

How did they used to treat mental illness?

Trephination. Trephination dates back to the earliest days in the history of mental illness treatments. It is the process of removing a small part of the skull using an auger, bore, or saw. This practice began around 7,000 years ago, likely to relieve headaches, mental illness, and even the belief of demonic possession ...

How did Victorians treat mental illness?

But people deemed mentally ill in Victorian England had very limited options for treatment, with those considered incurable given little therapy beyond being kept warm and fed.

When was the moral treatment movement?

The Moral Treatment Movement (1800–1850) The moral treatment movement was introduced in the United States by mental health workers who either had studied or had visited Europe where they became acquainted with moral treatment principles. However, unlike Pinel's version of the moral treatment movement, which made no reference to religious morality, ...

Who was the father of moral treatment?

Chief among those who spearheaded introduction of the moral treatment movement in the United States were Benjamin Rush , Dorothea Lynde Dix, Thomas Scattergood, and Thomas Story Kirkbride. Benjamin Rush was a physician and also Surgeon General of the Continental Armies. 47 He is also recognized today as the father of American psychiatry.

What were the first principles of occupational therapy?

The above analysis indicates that the first principles of occupational therapy, as developed by Dunton, were derived from the moral treatment movement, the arts and crafts movement, pragmatism, and medicine.

What was the purpose of Dix's crusade?

She was enraged with this lack of concern for these patients and thus began her crusade for the improvement of mental health institutions, a crusade that led her eventually to England and a meeting with Queen Victoria and Pope Pius IX. 35. Dix's crusade led to expansion of mental health institutions and other reforms.

Who were the leaders of mental health reform?

Leading among these reformers were the Quakers, and their efforts were to a large extent guided by principles developed by William Tuke in England.

Who proposed the idea of a mental asylum?

Upon his return to the United States, he presented a proposal to the Society of Friends to establish a mental asylum. After a while, Thomas Scattergood, along with Benjamin Rush, spearheaded the construction of the Friends Asylum, whose doors opened for the first time in 1817. Its physical structure and the methods of treatment were modeled along ...

Where did Dix have a nervous breakdown?

Dix had a nervous breakdown in 1836 and was treated at the York Retreat in England , where she recovered. 8 She was impressed with the moral treatment methods used there, and in her crusade for reform of mental health facilities, she strongly advocated the use of their methods.

What is moral treatment?

Moral treatment was a product of the Enlightenment of the late eighteenth century. Before then people with psychiatric conditions, referred to as the insane, were usually treated in inhumane and brutal ways. In France, England, and the United States, people who cared for the insane began to advocate for more kindly treatment. In France Philippe Pinel instituted what he called traitement moral at the Bicêtre hospital in Paris. According to Pinel, insane people did not need to be chained, beaten, or otherwise physically abused. Instead, he called for kindness and patience, along with recreation, walks, and pleasant conversation. Around the same time that Pinel called for his reforms, William Tuke, an English Quaker, founded the York Retreat for the care of the insane. Rejecting traditional medical intervention, Tuke emphasized the rural quiet retreat where insane people could engage in reading, light manual labor, and conversation. Never having more than thirty residents, the York Retreat remained small and hence able to focus on the individual needs of its residents.

Who was the first person to advocate moral treatment?

In the United States, the first proponent of moral treatment was Benjamin Rush. A Philadelphia physician, Rush had been one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. For Rush, the hustle and bustle of modern life contributed to mental diseases.

Why did the dream of moral treatment die?

The dream of moral treatment died because of a combination of overcrowded hospitals along with the advent of eugenics and Freud around the turn of the twentieth century.

Who advocated for more kindly treatment?

In France, England, and the United States, people who cared for the insane began to advocate for more kindly treatment. In France Philippe Pinel instituted what he called traitement moral at the Bicêtre hospital in Paris.

What did Dix insisted on?

Dix insisted that hospitals for the insane be spacious, well ventilated, and have beautiful grounds. In such settings, Dix envisioned troubled people regaining their sanity. In the 1840s and 1850s there was much optimism for the cure of insanity through kind treatment without restraints.

What is moral treatment?

Introduction to Moral Treatment. Moral treatment was the main way that the Asylum treated patients. As an 1825 history of the Asylum explained, “Although the use of drugs and medicaments is allowed, in almost every case, to be indispensible, less weight is attached to it in the Friends’ Asylum, than to moral treatment” ( Waln 15 ).

Who said moral treatment is a way to help mentally ill Quakers?

Historian Anne Digby countered that Quakers have always placed great importance on self-control, and she argued that moral treatment's coercive tactics would have seemed like a natural and familiar way to help mentally ill Quakers regain that self-control ( 68 ).

Why are Quakers supposed to focus on moral treatment?

Quakers are supposed to focus on the importance of inward changes of heart and making one’s behavior match one's inner life. For Godlee, moral treatment’s focus on the comfort of other people, as opposed to the cure of the patients, made moral treatment seem deeply un-Quaker.

Why is moral treatment considered cruel?

Moral treatment was widely believed to be kinder than other types of treatment available to the mentally ill because it limited the use of physical restraint and did not condone corporal punsishment.

What does it mean to treat patients like rational beings?

Treating the patients like rational beings meant using restraint only as a last resort, to ensure the safety of the patient and those around him or her, not as a punishment. Under moral treatment, the superintendent and keepers treated the patients as individuals, and helped them to try to regain control of themselves.

Was moral treatment at the Asylum non-violent?

Although moral treatment at the Asylum was non-violent and focused on getting the patients to try to take control of their lives again, some of moral treatment’s manifestations could be cruel. For some examples of the cruel side of moral treatment, see the stories of Nathan Y. and Abraham S. in the Case Studies.

What is moral treatment?

Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry or psychology and partly from religious or moral concerns. The movement is particularly associated with reform and development of the asylum system in Western Europe at that time. It fell into decline as a distinct method by the 20th century, however, due to overcrowding and misuse of asylums and the predominance of biomedical methods. The movement is widely seen as influencing certain areas of psychiatric practice up to the present day. There has been criticism that the approach blamed or oppressed patients according to the standards of a particular social class or religion.

Who was responsible for moral treatment?

The person most responsible for the early spread of moral treatment Template:Citation needed in the United States was Benjamin Rush (1745–1813), an eminent physician at Pennsylvania Hospital. He limited his practice to mental illness and developed innovative, humane approaches to treatment. He required that the hospital hire intelligent and sensitive attendants to work closely with patients, reading and talking to them and taking them on regular walks. He also suggested that it would be therapeutic for doctors to give small gifts to their patients every so often. However, Rush's treatment methods included bloodletting (bleeding), purging, hot and cold baths, mercury, and strapping patients to spinning boards and "tranquilizer" chairs. [1]

What was the moral treatment of the Enlightenment?

Moral treatment developed in the context of the Enlightenment and its focus on social welfare and individual rights. At the start of the 18th century, the "insane" were typically viewed as wild animals who had lost their reason. They were not held morally responsible but were subject to scorn and ridicule by the public, sometimes kept in madhouses in appalling conditions, often in chains and neglected for years or subject to numerous tortuous "treatments" including whipping, beating, bloodletting, shocking, starvation, irritant chemicals, and isolation. There were some attempts to argue for more psychological understandings and curative environments. For example, in England John Locke popularized the idea that there is a degree of madness in most people because emotions can cause people to incorrectly associate ideas and perceptions, and William Battie suggested a more psychological understanding, but conditions generally remained poor. The treatment of King George III also led to increased optimism about the possibility of therapeutic interventions.

What is moral treatment?

moral treatment. A therapeutic and preventive philosophy for managing mental disorders, which was popular in the early 19th century, based on William Tuke’s retreat model.

What was the approach to treating mental illness in the 19th century influenced by?

An approach to treating mental illness in the 19th century influenced by humanistic philosophy and a belief that a rational, caring approach would enable patients to normalize their thoughts and actions.

What is milieu therapy?

a type of milieu therapy used in the 19th century, emphas izing religious doctrine and benevolent guidance in activities of daily living; as such it was a form of psychotherapy as opposed to somatic treatments such as bloodletting and purging.

Who published the moral treatment of the insane?

The Moral Treatment of the Insane. By Amariah Brigham, Published in American Journal of Insanity, March 1847. Introduction: Amariah Brigham was the first superintendent of the New York State Asylum for the Insane in Utica. A leader in the field of moral treatment and the editor of “The Journal of Insanity,” Brigham here outlines his vision ...

What does Leuret believe about moral treatment?

Most writers previous to Leuret, had considered the moral treatment as auxiliary to the medical, but Leuret considers the latter as of trivial importance compared with the former. He proposes to cure all cases of uncomplicated insanity, solely by moral means.

How was Saul cured?

Saul was troubled by an evil spirit, and Job by a demon. Hence recourse was had to various moral means of cure. Thus Saul was cured by the music of David.

What did Brigham mean by rational amusements?

He envisioned them as fulfilling a task that would later be done by psychotherapists. Brigham emphasized “rational” amusements as part of treatment. The Utica institution had an extensive library, and the patients took part in various theatrical and musical presentations.

Where was the retreat of Pinel?

Not many years after this, the Retreat, near York in England, was established.

Can medicine be improved by exercising the faculties of the mind?

In these cues, medicine is generally of no use, and they cannot often be much improved, but by exercising the faculties of the mind.

Who is the editor of the journal of insanity?

A leader in the field of moral treatment and the editor of “The Journal of Insanity,” Brigham here outlines his vision of care for people with psychiatric disabilities. Under the instigation of Brigham , the patients at Utica launched The Opal, a literary journal which frequently described asylum life in glowing terms.