Mental Health and Incarceration
Class
About this Module
Class 2: The Historic Asylum Movement
Introduction:
In 2020, some of the largest mental health providers in the United States operated in prisons and jails. This is not an entirely new practice as in the mid–1800s, many people with mental health conditions were often placed in jails. This class explores that nineteenth century crisis through the eyes of two social reformers—Dorothea Dix and Elizabeth Packard. While Dix was an advocate for the creation of asylums, Packard critiqued the asylums as prison-like, based on her own experiences. By reading the writings of these two authors, students examine why people called for the establishment of asylums and the ways that asylums restricted people’s liberty.
Class Resources
Readings
- Dix, Dorothea. Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts. Boston: Munroe & Frances: 1843, pp. 1—6, 12—15, 29—32. http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101174442
- “Dorothea Dix, ca. 19th century.” Care and Custody: A History of Mental Health. U.S. National Library of Medicine. May 1, 2020.
- “March 28, 1841, Dorothea Dix Begins Her Crusade.” MassMoments. Mass Humanities. https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/dorothea-dix-begins-her-crusade.html
- Packard, E. P. W. The Prisoners’ Hidden Life, or, Insane Asylums Unveiled. Chicago: E. P. W. Packard, 1868. pp. iii—vi, 14—18, 61—69, 77—84, 340—44. http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/2566020R
- “Kidnapping Mrs. Packard.” In Modern persecution; or, Insane asylums unveiled, vol 1. Hartford: E. P. W. Packard, 1873.
Discussion Questions
- What were conditions in jails like for people considered to have mental health conditions in the nineteenth century?
- How did Dorothea Dix choose to respond and why?
- What were the limitations of the asylum model Dix proposed?
- Who was Elizabeth Packard and why was she committed to a mental hospital?
- Why did Elizabeth Packard oppose asylums and how did she want to reform them?
- Activity: Students imagine that Dorothea Dix and Elizabeth Packard could learn about the issues of mental health and the criminal justice system in the twenty-first century. Then, students write an opinion editorial in the voice of either Dorothea Dix or Elizabeth Packard about these conditions. How would each reformer respond to mental health and incarceration today? What would the reformers propose as solutions?
