This section covers Chapter 8, The New Division.
“No one blushed to put the insane in prison.” (221)
In the 19th century the educated of the period began to condemn confinement, this included psychiatrists and historians alike. People began to try and make the distinction between the criminals, the simply poor and the mad. In the eighteenth century it seems they figured out that poverty was an economic problem instead or a moral issue but by the time, the houses of confinement had been in place for over 100 years. I can’t help but think link the poor and the mad together. When their only crime was being born underprivileged and being places in these houses of confinement, in some cases as driving them into a mad state by being treated as animals. It seems the people and the responsibility was simply swept under the rug, oops we made a huge mistake and hundreds of lives we ruined or taken but we’ll do better next time doesn’t seem to be a significant response to me. On the other hand, what could they really do? The damage is already done. Giving the mad the attention and support they have been lacking from the very beginning. Although we can’t seem to blame the ignorant for their actions and choices, a new age was rising for the better understanding of the human mind and nature alike. The formation of the prison vs the hospital has begun.
Blueprint of Huntingdon County Gaol and House of Correction, England, built c1828.
