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Thesis ID: CBB001567230

Mental Defectives, Childhood Psychotics and the Origins of Autism Research at the Maudsley Hospital 1913--1983 (cited 2010)

University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)
Cambridge University
Publication date: cited 2010
Language: English

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Autism Hospitals and clinics Psychiatric hospitals Law and legislation Mental disorders and diseases Children Schizophrenia 20th century Great Britain

This thesis uses previously unexamined case material from the Maudsley hospital to put forward three central propositions. Firstly, I argue that the implementation and repeal of mental deficiency law in Britain had a direct influence on the establishment of `autism¿ as a category within child psychiatry. Secondly, I propose that all research in childhood autism has its direct antecedents in research into adult schizophrenia and that the category can never be independent of this history. Finally, I describe how the meaning of autism shifted from a representation of excessive phantasy life and hallucination to a representation of a lack of phantasy life. I argue that this shift was contemporaneous with a growth in epidemiological and statistical studies in child psychiatry from the mid-1960s onwards. The first chapter describes how the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 led to a major increase in the numbers of children institutionalised on account of their mental state. Chapter two describes childhood psychosis treatment and research at the Maudsley. The 1959 Mental Health Act saw the de-institutionalisation of over 141,000 adults and children in deficiency institutions, most of whom had been certified as `defective¿ in childhood. This prompted a rapid increase in epidemiological and statistical studies at the Maudsley. These studies were attempts to quantify the social problems which resulted from this major demographic shift. Victor Lotter¿s 1964 study of autism established a solid foundation to the category of autism underpinned with epidemiological and sociological data. Chapter three examines the significance of this transition. The final chapter explores the growth in diagnoses of autism, `autistic features¿ and related conditions in children from the mid-1960s onwards.

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Description Defense date not indicated; cited by UMI in 2010. Cited in ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing. Proquest Document ID: 1314575279.

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