Psychological Classification and Diagnosis in Asylum Statistics, 1800 - 1948: The British Table of the Forms of Insanity

by Kevin Matthew Jones

Overview

Scientific and technical contacts between nations· have necessitated the publication of various language textbooks, manuals and reference books. Particularly important among them are multilingual scientifio and technical dictionaries. This English-German-French-Dutch-Russian Dictionary of Scientifio and Technical Terms contains some 9000 entries. The main fea­ ture of the Dictionary is that it includes first and foremost general scientific terms needed by an engineer working in any branch of science and technology. Besides, the Dictionary includes the basic terms used in physics, mathematics, the fundamentals of electrical engineering and chemistry, and also the most essential terms pertaining to manufacturing processes. machine design, testing methods, etc. The Compilers were confronted with a difficult task, as nowadays science and technology are developing rapidly and the minimum scientific and technical vocabulary required by a specialist is increasing accordingly. The Compilers have taken special pains to include the entire basic modern technical vocabulary, omitting superfluous words and phrases. They have tried to solve this problem by selecting mainly those scientific and technical terms which constitute the basic of a specialised vocabulary. There­ fore, the Dictionary includes the vocabulary pertaining to general study courses in mathematics, physics and chemistry, and also in electrical engi­ neering. electronics and machine design, given in technical colleges irrespect­ ive of their specification. This lends the Dictionary an «all-purpose» char­ acter, making it equally useful to scientists and engineers of different countries, who have graduated from colleges with different curricula.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783031461538
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
Publication date:	03/31/2025
Series:	Mental Health in Historical Perspective
Edition description:	2024
Pages:	355
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Kevin Matthew Jones is a lecturer in the Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, at the University of Leeds, UK. He has conducted research on factors shaping public data and the modern history of medicine at the National Archives and the University of Birmingham. Additionally, he has published research on the history of psychology, the history of medicine, and the integrated history and philosophy of science.

Table of Contents

Introduction.- 1. The Beginnings of a British Standard Classification, c. 1845-1860.- 2. Statistics, Causal Explanations of Insanity and Revisions to the Standard Classification: Medico-Psychological Association Debates c.1860-1882.- 3. ‘A Higgledy Piggledy Conglomeration’: Prognosis and the ‘Proto-Kraepelinian’ Standard Classification c.1902-1906.- 4. Heterogeneity and Crisis: The Final Series of Revisions to the Standard Classification c.1928-1932.- 5. The International Influence of the British Standard Classification During the Interwar Years.- 6. Globalisation, Imperialism and the World Health Organisation’s Classification: The End of the ‘Mesozoic’ British Standard Classification: c.1938-1960.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Kevin Jones's book provides the first detailed reconstruction of the nineteenth and twentieth-century debates about psychiatric classification. These classifications are now foundational to the ways we see ourselves and our relationships with others, so much so that it is difficult to imagine life without them. Problems in the workplace, classroom or family home are often framed through reference to putative psychiatric diagnoses or psychological conditions. This transformation has been widely commented upon, but an overarching historical analysis of these categories has been absent. Moving from the Victorian statistical Tables of Insanity through to the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases, Jones presents a thoughtful and intelligent analysis of the medical debates that ground the identities we live with in Britain today.” (Rhodri Hayward, Reader, Queen Mary University London)

“Kevin Jones’ fascinating account of a century of debate on how to do this sheds light on problems that endure today. The media give supposed psychiatric classifications, like the American Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM), extensive coverage in debates about mental illness. DSM looks like a classification system that makes mental illness a part of medicine but it’s not. It’s a dictionary of symptoms or collections of symptoms. For nearly two centuries there has been a confusing divide between dictionaries and classifications, beginning with the Table of Forms put in place to track outcomes and value for money in British asylums.” (David Healy, Professor of Psychiatry, Bangor University)