Dorothea Dix The mentally ill was mistreated, beaten, thrown into unclean quarters, and even taken advantage of before the 1800's. They was viewed as helpless individuals. Society and the government viewed them as criminals and deemed them incurable. During the 1800's a pioneer named Dorothea Dix brought about a change dealing with the treatment of the mentally ill. She became the voice of them something they never had. Dorothea Lynde Dix was born on April 4th 1802 in Maine and the first of three children of Joseph and Mary Dix. Dix’s home life was less than pleasant because her mother was mentally unstable and her father n abusive alcoholic (Gollaher, 1995). Dix’s troubles through the course of her childhood may have been one of the reasons she developed an altruistic social role; a passion capable of changing the treatment of others. Although her father was violent toward Dix, he did teach her how to read at a young age and this sparked interest in teaching and assessment (Bumb, 2008). During the early 1800’s women lacked permission to attend school but could be privately educated by other women; therefore Dix decided to embrace this approach. Dix ran a school near her grandmother’s home for three …show more content…
She volunteered and was soon appointed Superintendent of Union Army Nurses. Dix was responsible for all female nurses in the army and again was part of fighting for the privileges of women. Military officials doubted the credibility of females but Dix recruited more women and convinced the public that they could perform the job just as well as men (LeVert, 2005). Advocating for the rights of women became a trend for Dix. Just as she was part of the alternative opinions on the rights of the mentally ill, Dix also fought to make society understand that women should have equal rights. As Dix’s health continued to deteriorate, she retired and eventually passed away in 1887 after a 20 year span of hard work (Parry,
As a result of the lack of regulation in state mental institutions, most patients were not just abused and harassed, but also did not experience the treatment they came to these places for. While the maltreatment of patients did end with the downsizing and closing of these institutions in the 1970’s, the mental health care system in America merely shifted from patients being locked up in mental institutions to patients being locked up in actual prisons. The funds that were supposed to be saved from closing these mental institutions was never really pumped back into treating the mentally ill community. As a result, many mentally ill people were rushed out of mental institutions and exposed back into the real world with no help where they ended up either homeless, dead, or in trouble with the law. Judges even today are still forced to sentence those in the latter category to prison since there are few better options for mentally ill individuals to receive the treatment they need. The fact that America, even today, has not found a proper answer to treat the mentally ill really speaks about the flaws in our
Dix’s life work has had a lasting effect on the care and treatment of the mentally ill. Her goals were never concretely set in her mind, she simply did what was best for the people and accomplished immeasurable good in her lifetime. Not only did she bring to light the plight of the mentally ill, she helped to open the door for hospitals and asylums to be built across the country and bring about overall change in the care and treatment of the patients. She believed, and was able to show, that the “insane” weren’t a lost cause. With proper care and treatment many were able to recover and lead normal lives. This was something that professionals at the time didn’t think was possible. She awoke the nations conscience to the plight of the mentally ill.
The 1930s was a tough time for all of the mentally ill people. They were not treated the way that they do now. The mentally ill were called names like satans child, or they were not expected or very frowned upon in many religions. So because of all of the people who were mentally ill they started to create asylums. With these asylums they could hold almost all of the mentally ill people during that time. All of the asylums were overcrowded and sometimes there would be around 1 million patients. WIth all of the people in these asylums the staff and doctors became very understaffed so the patients living within the asylums were not treated how they should have been. Then doctors had found ways that they thought could cure these mentally ill people, whether it would be cruel to them or not. The treatments ran from major brain surgery to taking baths for multiple days.
In the 1800’s people with mental illnesses were frowned upon and weren't treated like human beings. Mental illnesses were claimed to be “demonic possessions” people with mental illnesses were thrown into jail cells, chained to their beds,used for entertainment and even killed. Some were even slaves, they were starved and forced to work in cold or extremely hot weather with chains on their feet. Until 1851, the first state mental hospital was built and there was only one physician on staff responsible for the medical, moral and physical treatment of each inmate. Who had said "Violent hands shall never be laid on a patient, under any provocation.
“The Great Depression was a worldwide economic slump of the 1930’s” (Fetzer; p.338). The Great Depression caused a catastrophic amount of grief and distress for the citizens of the United States. Some of these citizens, however, faced more problems which caused grief and distress than others. Among those citizens were the mentally ill. During the era of the Great Depression, the mentally handicapped were treated unfairly in almost every aspect of their lives; this included how society treated them, how they were treated medically, and even how their personal lives were affected.
Throughout the past, there have been many heroes and heroines. Although they don’t all wear a cape, mask, and have superpowers; they all did something and they all have a story. Martha Washington is one of the many that stood out to me, and her story started June 22, 1731. Frances and John Dandridge were thrilled to welcome their first born child that summer day in New Kent County, Virginia. Martha was a very intelligent young lady, and one of the few women in her time who learned to read and write.
Throughout history, there has been many individuals who have changed and helped the Social Work profession progress to where it is today. One individual that stands out to me the most is Dorothea Dix. I have always been interested with Dorothea Dix because of the things that she reformed for the population of people who are mentally ill. I believe that without her it might have taken a lot longer for the conditions to be changed. Without Dorothea Dix I believe that the conditions of the mentally ill people would still be ignored, she was the start of a drive that revolutionized the way individuals looked at people who were mentally insane. Because of Dorothea Dix, mentally ill people were finally looked at as individuals.
Throughout Dorothea Dix's career of about forty years she accomplished an astonishing amount of things. Through her hard work fourteen states passed bills for the humane treatment of the mentally ill, thirty-two hospitals were built, fifteen schools for the feeble-minded, a school for the blind, and numerous facilities for the training of nurses. She was an indirect inspiration to the building of hundreds of other buildings and institutions for the mentally ill and was also very influential in the proper establishment of other prisons, and mental hospitals of course. If not for the passion of Dorothea Dix who knows where we would currently stand with the issues of the mentally ill and the environment within prisons. Dorothea Dix was the pioneering force in the movement to reform the treatment of the mentally ill in America.
Dorothea noticed that the mentally ill were placed in prisons because people didn’t know what else to do with them. Her early family life, which consisted of an abusive alcoholic dad and a mother that was not in good mental health, was very troubling and led to Dorothea’s guardianship of her brothers. Dorothea became a teacher and then centered her life on prison reform and the creation of asylums and homes for the mentally
Once in a while a truly exceptional person has made a mark on the growth of mankind. Dorothea Dix was an exceptional woman. She wrote children’s books, she was a school teacher, and she helped reform in prisons. Some of her most notable work was in the field of making mental health institutions a better place for the patients that lived in them. Dorothea Dix gave a great deal to humanity and her achievements are still being felt today, especially in the treatment of those with mental disabilities. Dix started out though with very humble beginnings.
Social justice has influence change in policies for the mentally ill. Opening the doors for political reform. Throughout history, the treatment of the mentally ill has taken many shapes. Influence by the time periods core values and ideas of social justice. Before the colonization, society did not see the mentally ill as human beings. This ideology was Influence by religion that considered them to be evil or demons. Especially during the Black Death when people were only looking for escape goats. Day, & Schiele, (2013) This would only make things worse for mentally disabled. Rendering them defenseless and at the will of society. Their disabling conditions would prevent them from self-advocacy. They would have to depend on family members to advocate; and demand social justice for them. The overwhelming societal norms influence by religion and fueled by fear punishment appeared to be the only solution.
Growing up during slavery times were hard on African American’s. Being treated the way they were they were treated was an injustice and something no one should ever go through. By analyzing Sojourner Truth’s early life of being born a slave, becoming a mother, having at least three of her children sold away from her, heading to freedom, fighting for abolition and women’s rights, advocacy during the civil war, her death and her legacy which lives on today. It is clear that Sojourner truth shaped her time.
The mentally ill were treated very inhumanly in the early insane asylums. Some of the treatment the patients had to undergo was extremely painful and evil. The asylums were really prisons and not centers for treatment. The inmates were chained and the rooms were dark and filthy dungeons. The patients were treated like animals, not humans (Gray).
Wilson, Dorothy Clarke. Stranger and Traveler: The Story of Dorothea Dix, American Reformer. Boston: Little, Brown and Company , Print.
Education for women in the 1800s was far different from what we know today. During her life, a girl was taught more necessary skills around the home than the information out of school books. A woman’s formal education was limited because her job opportunities were limited—and vice versa. Society could not conceive of a woman entering a profession such as medicine or the law and therefore did not offer her the chance to do so. It was much more important to be considered 'accomplished' than thoroughly educated. Elizabeth Bennet indicated to her sisters that she would continue to learn through reading, describing education for herself as being unstructured but accessible. If a woman desired to further he education past what her classes would teach her, she would have to do so independently, and that is what most women did.