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The problem of mental deficiency : eugenics, democracy, and social policy in Britain c.1870-1959
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Thomson, Mathew (1998) The problem of mental deficiency : eugenics, democracy, and social policy in Britain c.1870-1959. Oxford historical monographs . Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0198206925
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b1040860~S1
Abstract
This is the first detailed assessment of the development and implementation of social policy to deal with the problem of the 'mentally deficient' in Britain between 1870 and 1959. Mathew Thomson analyses all the factors involved in the policy-making process, beginning with the politics of the legislature and showing how the demands of central government were interpreted by local authorities, resulting in a wide and varied distribution of medical, institutional, and community care in different parts of the country. The efforts of health professionals, voluntary organizations and the families themselves are considered, alongside questions about the influence of changing concepts of class, gender, and citizenship. The author queries the belief that the policy of segregation was largely unsuccessful, and reveals a hitherto unrecognized system of care in the community. He reframes our understanding of the campaign for sterilization and examines why British policy-makers avoided extremist measures such as the compulsory sterilization introduced in Germany and parts of the US during this period. Thomson shows that the problem of mental deficiency cannot be understood simply in terms of eugenics but must also be considered as part of the process of adjusting to democracy in the twentieth century.
| Item Type: | Book |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > History |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Great Britain -- Social policy, Mental health policy -- Great Britain, Mental retardation -- Government policy -- Great Britain, Eugenics -- Government policy -- Great Britain, Eugenics -- Great Britain -- History |
| Series Name: | Oxford historical monographs |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Place of Publication: | Oxford |
| ISBN: | 0198206925 |
| Date: | 1998 |
| Number of Pages: | 351 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| URI: | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/37831 |
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