History of social psychiatry

The overview focuses on publications relating to the history of social psychiatry and the mental health movement, respectively.

The selected works show fundamental developments within psychiatry, which can be conceived in the broadest sense as sociomedical in nature. Main emphases are the criticism of large institutions, reform movements and antipsychiatric movements, the search for alternative therapeutic methods, and the question of the resocialization of the mentally ill. Furthermore, it is important to demonstrate the influences of other scientific disciplines.

Although social psychiatric approaches can be discerned as early as in the 19th century, the focus of the works lies on the development of social psychiatry in the 20th century. Only from the 1950s onwards did social psychiatry establish itself as an integral part of psychiatric practice and later of research. Accordingly, the main focus of the studies is on the development after the Second World War, not least because processes that began at that time have not yet been concluded. Happily, a trend is apparent in this respect: the one-sided view of physicians and their actions is being increasingly complemented by further professional groups and is consequently broadened by important dimensions.