Article ID: CBB251669031

Post-mortem in the Victorian asylum: practice, purpose and findings at the Littlemore County Lunatic Asylum, 1886–7 (2017)

unapi

This article examines the purpose of the post-mortem in the late Victorian asylum and discusses what the findings reveal about contemporary understanding of mental health. By examining the practice at the Littlemore Asylum of Oxford, the definition of the asylum post-mortem will be questioned and issues of consent and ownership of the dead body explored. It will be argued that the purpose of the examination was partly to appease the demands of the Commissioners in Lunacy, to protect the asylum against accusations of malpractice, and to appease the resident assistant medical officer’s own morbid curiosity. The examinations would therefore be better defined as dissections. This article will challenge understanding of institutional death, the legal processes required for dissection, and mental healthcare.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB251669031/

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Authors & Contributors
Davison, Sophie
Tinne Claes
Ramos, Marco Antonio
Golcman, Alejandra
Wright, David
Woods, Angela
Concepts
Medicine and culture
Psychiatric hospitals
Mental disorders and diseases
Psychiatry
Death
Human body
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
20th century
18th century
21st century
20th century, late
Places
United States
England
Georgia (U.S.)
Edinburgh
New England (U.S.)
Wales
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