Social control doctrines of mental illness and the medical profession in nineteenth-century America

Social control doctrines of mental disorders have influenced a generation of psychologists and have shaped attitudes and discussions about how to treat the mentally ill. In light of the failure of deinstitutionalization as a public policy and the contemporary concern with the medical or biological bases of psychiatric disorders, this paper re-examines social control doctrines. Reviewing mid-nineteenth century statistical accounts, the author challenges claims of social control theorists and shows that in recent years some former social control advocates and revisionists have "recanted" and criticized their earlier use of the concept of social control, particularly the characterization of the asylum as a "total institution."