The care and treatment of the insane poor, with special reference to the insane in private dwellings / by Arthur Mitchell, M.A.

  • Mitchell, Arthur, Sir, 1826-1909.
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The care and treatment of the insane poor, with special reference to the insane in private dwellings / by Arthur Mitchell, M.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    this object in view—the greatest good' of the greatest number— they appear to be offered; and what are they, after all, but an extension of that non-restraint which is the boast of this land and the glory of Conolly ? It is a necessary effect of what he introduced, that the character of asylum populations should somewhat change, and also that the very number of those who are classed as the insane should be somewhat widened. Hence comes a new state of things, of the growing existence of which I believe all are conscious, though some may be unwilling to acknowledge it, and though there may be differences as to those other new things in which the redress is to be found. The recommendation to provide for a certain num- ber of the insane in private dwellings may be regarded as an extension and a product of non-restraint, and it is so in the sense just indicated, but it is so in a still more literal sense ; for if there be in an asylum an incurable and harmless lunatic, whose en- joyment of life would be increased by a return to his friends, is not his detention in the asylum a restraint, and should not efforts be made to bring it to an end, and to place him in those circumstances which will best promote his happiness ? The efforts which have been made, and the discussion which has taken place as to the management of a certain number of the insane poor in private dwellings, and as to the condition and treatment of the insane at Gheel, have already borne fruit. There are few men dealing with insanity whose opinions have not through this source undergone some modification, and the fruit is further to be detected in the management and construction of many an asylum, and in the strength and width which have been given to the great principle of non-restraint. The different ways in which pauper patients in Scotland can be legally provided for in private dwellings are as follow :— Percentage of patients in private dwellings (Scotland) disposed of in the diiferent ways. 1. With their relatives as guardians 75-5 2. With persons as guardians who are not relatives— there being only one patient in the house 21*1 H. With persons as guardians who (as in No. 2) are not relatives, but who have obtained from the Board a special licence, and who may, according to the Board's approval, receive either one, two, three, or four patients 3-4 The first and second methods are in operation in England as well as in Scotland ; the last is in operation only in Scotland. But there, as in England, the great majority of persons in private dwell- ings are under the care of relatives. Wherever suitable guardians can be found in relatives, these are chosen in preference to strangers, and accordingly we have 75'5 per cent, of the single patients boarded
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