In today's society, there are accounts, as recently as 2013 and going back to at least 2007, of Nevada hospitals "shipping" off mentally ill patients to California by bus or train (Bellisle, 2013). Up to 1,800 individuals or more were given some snacks, medicine and a one way ticket and told to seek treatment in California. As a result California sued Nevada and Nevada's legislature suddenly increased its budget by $3 million dollars to deal with the lack of resources (Mukherjee, 2013). What makes this revelation poignant is the historic and cultural practice that is documented in Michel Foucault's work entitled "Madness & Civilization" (1965).
Foucault's work is considered by many as a significant contribution to the history of disabilities because of the primary research Foucault conducted and because he took the unique approach of describing how people and societies of the past viewed and dealt with the issues of "madness". As a result, Foucualt's work provides us with an insight of how European civilization changed over time in their perspectives and actions with populations of individuals that were considered "mad", "insane" or disabled. One reads accounts of early European civilization, in which individuals were considered part of the community and integrated, but as populations increased and societal expectations changed due to religion or technologies, individuals with disabilities became more isolated and marginalized, cultural legacies that we evidently still carry on today in parts of the United States.
What makes Foucualt's work such an important contribution is the documentation of how cultural perspectives and society can impact the lives of individuals and further stigmatize them for hundreds of years. The reader of this work will be interested in reading the accounts of how people with disabilities in various town ships throughout Europe were put on ships and sent away to rid the towns of beggars or individuals that simply were sick. Today, the saying that has been used in a variety of songs and poems,"ship of fools", is a surviving relic from this time period (p. 8). Foucault describes how the creation of hospitals that were designed originally for lepers returning from the time of the crusades eventually became the solution for dealing with the sick and mentally ill (p. 7). At one time, the General Hospital of Paris, after one year of being created, held more than six thousand individuals, or one percent of the population of city at that time (p. 45).
Religious convictions framed many beliefs that we still carry with us in present contemporary times. In earlier attempts to try and understand the source and purpose of disabilities, individuals turned to the bible for answers, coming away with cursed souls, or demonic individuals who were less than human and needed to be saved (p. 61). Concerned with saving the souls of the damned, the churches influenced and were given responsibilities to treat and care for the mentally ill from a perspective that was based on biblical interpretations, rather than scientific knowledge.
As times changed along with technologies, European society found not only ways to keep individuals with disabilities isolated but busy as well with routines and work. Hospitals continued, but "work houses" were now created to provide revenue and routines. Accounts of individuals being sequestered, chained and isolated were common; treated more like "beasts of burden" than as human beings, these individuals were obviously cast down into the lowest depths of a class society that frequently feared the conditions they did not know how to explain or wanted to deal with (pgs. 48- 63). In the 18th century, medical beliefs contributed to the idea that individuals with disabilities needed to be "cured". The establishment of medical institutions to which individuals were sent to and "cared for". Doctors started to develop medicines to treat the ill, of which more than one physician would die from "their own remedies" (p. 192).
Luckily, in addition to the darker descriptions Foucault discovers in his research of European history with "madness", he also comes across moments of illumination that document more human and effective practices. There are several accounts of the positive impact upon individuals with mental issues being outside in "natural" environments and given the freedom to exercise". The practice of routines and activities to distract and help to train a sick mind was also suggested in helping individuals to overcome their challenges with mental illness. "If one can discover objects or persons who may be able to distract the attention from the pursuit of deranged idea and who may be able to fix it somewhat upon others, they must be presented often to maniacs; and it is for this reason that advantages may often be obtained from travel, which interrupts the sequence of former ideas and offers objects that fix the attention" (Cullen, W., 1785 as cited by Foucault, p. 175).
"Madness & Civilization" is a relevant work to read for anyone seeking perspective on "madness" or any disability for that matter. Foucault's work provides the reader with an opportunity to see what impact society and culture has had on individuals with illness. It offers present society a chance to compare how we deal and treat individuals today and brings to question why as a culture and society still may fear and isolate those who may be strange to us? Foucault's work can offer us a glimpse into the past, in the hope that we do not repeat the same mistakes and accept the responsibility for caring for our human family members, rather than conveniently disposing of them to places of isolation and suffering.
Resource:
Bellisle, M. (2013). Nev. hospitals accused of shipping mentally ill patients to Calif. Nevada. Gazette Journal. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/21/nevada-california-patient-dumping/2681593/
Foucault, M. (1965). Madness & civilization: A history of insanity in the age of reason. New York. Vintage Books.
Mukherjee, S. (2013). Nevada gets sued for dumping homeless patients onto buses. Retrieved from http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/11/2602391/san-francisco-sues-nevada-patient-dumping/
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