B D Kelly1. 1. Department of Adult Psychiatry, University College Dublin, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, 62/63 Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland. brendankelly35@gmail.com
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The history of institutional care for individuals with intellectual disability is under-researched, complex and troubling. AIMS: To explore the experiences of women who may have had intellectual disability and/or mental illness and were admitted to forensic psychiatric care in early twentieth-century Ireland. METHODS: All female case records at the Central Mental Hospital, Dublin from 1910 to 1948 (n = 42) were studied for evidence of possible intellectual disability and a series of five cases is presented in detail. RESULTS: These committals occurred in the context of adverse social conditions, over-crowding in asylums and a belief that rates of mental illness were rising. Particular challenges included diagnostic issues (especially in relation to intellectual disability), adjustment to asylum environments, mental illness and physical ill-health. CONCLUSIONS: The institutional experiences of individuals with intellectual disability represents an important area for further historical research, using larger and more varied forensic populations.
BACKGROUND: The history of institutional care for individuals with intellectual disability is under-researched, complex and troubling. AIMS: To explore the experiences of women who may have had intellectual disability and/or mental illness and were admitted to forensic psychiatric care in early twentieth-century Ireland. METHODS: All female case records at the Central Mental Hospital, Dublin from 1910 to 1948 (n = 42) were studied for evidence of possible intellectual disability and a series of five cases is presented in detail. RESULTS: These committals occurred in the context of adverse social conditions, over-crowding in asylums and a belief that rates of mental illness were rising. Particular challenges included diagnostic issues (especially in relation to intellectual disability), adjustment to asylum environments, mental illness and physical ill-health. CONCLUSIONS: The institutional experiences of individuals with intellectual disability represents an important area for further historical research, using larger and more varied forensic populations.