The Problem of Mental Deficiency: Eugenics, Democracy, and Social Policy in Britain c. 1870-1959

by Mathew Thomson

Overview

This is the first full study of the great alarm about "mental defectives" in Britain between 1870 and 1959, and the resulting policies of segregation, community care, and sexual sterilization. Mathew Thomson examines the origins of these policies in central government and shows how they were put into practice by health professionals and local authorities. He reveals how policy-makers avoided extremist measures such as compulsory sterilization (introduced in Germany and parts of the US during this period), not for reasons of liberal principle but because of the socially conservative and anti-interventionlist nature of British political culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198206927
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/14/1998
Series:	Oxford Historical Monographs
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	8.82(w) x 5.74(h) x 1.09(d)
Lexile:	1870L (what's this?)

About the Author

University of Sheffield

Editorial Reviews

"This book should be of interest to a wide range of readers. Thomson includes comparative material that takes the study beyond the confines of the British Isles, and his multi-leveled analysis holds value for historiography as an example of how the history of a medical/mental issue can be fruitfully examined in a broad social and political context."—American Historical Review

"This is an excellent treatment of an important aspect of the British welfare state."—CHOICE

"Mathew Thomson has given us a well-researched and cognetly argued administrative history of British policy concerning the mentally disabled....Overall, the book's strength is the rich detail of parliamentary debates, administrative wrangling, and policy decisions illustrating official attitudes and behaviors toward the mentally disabled."—Victorian Studies

"An important statement that provides a welcome perspective on contemporary arguments about the consequences of the deinstitutionalization of mental health services since the 1960s."—Albion

"Mathew Thomson has written an important book on a neglected topic in the history of social policy and social welfare. He has also written it superbly...Thomson has produced a study based on a refreshingly innovative analytical and historiographical approach that has gone a considerable way to redefine the field of inquiry into the history of mental disorder and social welfare."—ISIS

From the Publisher