Erving Goffman's Asylums 50 years on.

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  • Author(s): Suibhne SM
  • Source:
    The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science [Br J Psychiatry] 2011 Jan; Vol. 198 (1), pp. 1-2.
  • Publication Type:
    Editorial; Historical Article
  • Language:
    English
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Cambridge University Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0342367 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1472-1465 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00071250 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Psychiatry Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: 2019- : [Cambridge] : Cambridge University Press
      Original Publication: London, Headley Brothers.
    • Subject Terms:
      Medicine in Literature*; Psychiatry/*history; History, 20th Century ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans
    • Abstract:
      Erving Goffman's Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates is a key text in the sociology of mental illness. It is sometimes seen simplistically as a paradigm of'antipsychiatry', and as a key step in the triumph of community psychiatry over narrower, medical models of mental illness. Reading Asylums today, however, reveals that this portrayal does not capture the richness of the text. My argument is that, rather than being an opponent of biological psychiatry or medical models per se, Goffman's key role was in humanising patients and drawing attention to the patterns of interaction that dehumanised them.
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20110105 Date Completed: 20110512 Latest Revision: 20180724
    • Publication Date:
      20221213
    • Accession Number:
      10.1192/bjp.bp.109.077172
    • Accession Number:
      21200067