Vicky Long

Industrial Homes, Domestic Factories: the Convergence of Public and Private Space in Interwar Britain

Browsing through interwar editions of Industrial Welfare,1 a journal which represented the interests of industrial welfare supervisors, one might easily in a moment of lapsed concentration imagine that it was a home and garden journal. Interspersed with articles on sports and timekeeping are numerous pieces extolling the virtues of model companies, illustrated with photographs of factory kitchens, gardens, dining rooms, restrooms and bathrooms. These images of upholstered chairs, artwork, flowers, tablecloths, beds and curtains represent the factory environment not as a site of industrial production but as an idealized middle-class home.

‘Heading up a blind alley’? Scottish psychiatric hospitals in the era of deinstitutionalization:

This article examines Scottish provision of psychiatric care in the 1960s and 1970s. It demonstrates that institutional services did not rapidly disappear across the UK following the Ministry of Health’s decision to shut down psychiatric hospitals in 1961, and highlights Scotland’s distinctive trajectory. Furthermore, it contends that psychiatric hospitals developed new approaches to assist patients in this era, thereby contributing towards the transformation of post-war psychiatric practice. Connecting a discussion of policy with an analysis of provision, it examines the Department of Health for Scotland’s cautious response to the Ministry’s embrace of deinstitutionalization, before analysing Glasgow’s psychiatric provision in the 1970s. At this point the city boasted virtually no community-based services, and relied heavily on its under-resourced and overburdened hospitals. Closer analysis dispels any impression of stagnation, revealing how ideologies of deinstitutionalization transformed institutional care.

Introduction: Deinstitutionalisation and the pathways of post-war psychiatry in the western world

The introduction provides a historical context for the psychiatric deinstitutionalisation that occurred in most Western countries during the second half of the twentieth century. It presents a working definition of deinstitutionalisation, but also teases out some of the nuances connected to the term. The introduction begins by examining the precursors of deinstitutionalisation prior to the Second World War, including the impact of the child guidance and mental hygiene movements, before exploring the impact of the War on psychiatry and ideas about mental health. It then proceeds to analyse the specific triggers of deinstitutionalisation, touching on the intellectual, political, economic, technological and cultural factors that helped to drive the process. The introduction also touches on how deinstitutionalisation varied in different countries, and outlines the ramifications of the process in recent decades. It concludes by summarising the volume’s chapters and reflecting on what can be learned from the legacy of deinstitutionalisation.

Book Review: Tom Burns, Our Necessary Shadow: The Nature and Meaning of Psychiatry

health and intelligence, and simply needed a readjustment of outlook – or more commonly, the readjustment of their family situation. Indeed, parents are as much part of the story as children; this fact was recognized by psychiatrists at the end of Stewart’s period when they started to reject the label ‘child guidance’ as an accurate descriptor of what they were doing. Stewart makes considerable and effective use of case studies, both of individual clinics (including many outside London, and several in Scotland), and of individual children. He presents a large cast of influential psychiatrists, psychologists, PSWs and other personnel, and sets out clearly their differing views on the role and aims of child guidance across the period. It is clear from his discussion how influential some of these people were in setting the tone and path of child guidance, both in their own clinics and in the way that the field was conceptualized by professional and lay communities. There is somewhat less of a sense of exactly what sorts of treatment the child patients received (not aided by the fact that surviving case notes are scanty); readers’ prior knowledge will be useful in making sense of the broad references to play therapy, psychometric testing and psychotherapy (which was initially much resisted by the public, although it came to assume a larger role in the post-war period). However, Stewart does use the surviving clinic records to good effect, providing a profile of the ‘typical’ patient (of school age, slightly more likely to be male than female, and generally of average intelligence); and (in the appendices) useful breakdowns of numbers and diagnostic profiles. This excellent book tells a coherent tale of professionalization and professional rivalries, the importance attached to a happy and stable childhood in the widest terms, and the distinctive paths taken by different clinics and personnel. It is grounded in the social, economic and medical background of the period, a vital backdrop for understanding the importance attached to ‘maladjustment’ and the high profile given to child guidance in the building of the post-war welfare state. It is also enjoyably readable; Stewart is a master at leading the reader through his text with a set of signposts as to where it is going next. The Introduction and Conclusion are particularly useful and succinct. In sum, this book makes a significant contribution to the fields of medical history, the history of childhood, and the origins of the welfare state. The rich contextualization and case studies bring it to life, and it will be of great use to researchers and students alike.