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Article ID: CBB000932835

Psychosurgery, Industry and Personal Responsibility, 1940--1965 (2010)

Raz, Mical (Author)

Social History of Medicine
Volume: 23
Pages: 116--133
Publication date: 2010
Language: English

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Mental disorders and diseases Neurosurgery; psychosurgery Lobotomy 20th century United States Freeman, Walter

Between 1935 and 1965, tens of thousands of lobotomies were performed in the United States in an attempt to alleviate psychiatric disorders. This article focuses on the role that employment and the capacity to work played in framing the results of lobotomy in a positive light. It argues that employment status was a key factor in evaluating patients' post-operative condition, and in determining the success of the operation. The article focuses on the publications and archive papers of Walter Freeman, the physician responsible for the widespread endorsement of lobotomy in the United States. The preoccupation of physicians and patients with the capacity to work, and the emphasis on productivity, industry and personal responsibility, were contributing factors to the success of lobotomy in the US. It is argued that the somatic intervention of lobotomy was based on, and reaffirmed, a social approach to mental illness.

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Description “Focuses on the publications and archive papers of Walter Freeman, the physician responsible for the widespread endorsement of lobotomy in the United States.” (from the abstract)

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