“A position of great trust and responsibility”: a social history of the Grahamstown Asylum, 1875 – c. 1905
- Authors: Van Zyl, Kylie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Mental health services -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Psychiatric hospitals -- South Africa -- History , South Africa -- Race relations -- Social aspects , Mentally ill -- Commitment and detention -- South Africa , Mentally ill -- Abuse of -- South Africa , Mental health policy -- South Africa , Asylums -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Discrimination in mental health services -- South Africa , Health and race -- South Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151031 , vital:39025
- Description: Much has been written about the inequalities inherent in the psychiatric care provided to mentally ill individuals in the Cape Colony, but to date few works have been produced that describe in detail the processes and care regimes at particular institutions. This thesis examines the history of care and custody provided by the Grahamstown Asylum in the Cape between the years of 1875 and 1905. The intention is to determine the means and methods by which the Asylum’s authorities developed, almost unchallenged, a system of unequal treatment and favouritism within that facility, and what this meant for the men and women committed to the Asylum’s custody. To this end, contemporaneous official reports from Asylum staff and Colonial authorities were consulted, in conjunction with the Asylum’s internal records such as registers and individual patient files. This thesis concludes that the evolution of the Colony’s psychiatric community’s beliefs around mental illness, philosophies of protective custody and moral treatment within the psychiatric community at the time, the region’s laws governing psychiatric institutionalisation, and the larger context of the Cape’s socio-political environment at the time converged to create an institution that practiced discrimination on both a macro- and micro-level. This discriminatory framework affected who was admitted, the diagnosis that each person received, the asylum facilities to which they had access, and further, to the odds against their recovery. The implications of this study are relevant in the present day, as the modern South African system of psychiatric institutionalisation, though embedded within a socio-political context of equality and non-discrimination nevertheless appears to suffer from a similarly undemocratic framework of operation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Van Zyl, Kylie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Mental health services -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope , Psychiatric hospitals -- South Africa -- History , South Africa -- Race relations -- Social aspects , Mentally ill -- Commitment and detention -- South Africa , Mentally ill -- Abuse of -- South Africa , Mental health policy -- South Africa , Asylums -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Discrimination in mental health services -- South Africa , Health and race -- South Africa -- History
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/151031 , vital:39025
- Description: Much has been written about the inequalities inherent in the psychiatric care provided to mentally ill individuals in the Cape Colony, but to date few works have been produced that describe in detail the processes and care regimes at particular institutions. This thesis examines the history of care and custody provided by the Grahamstown Asylum in the Cape between the years of 1875 and 1905. The intention is to determine the means and methods by which the Asylum’s authorities developed, almost unchallenged, a system of unequal treatment and favouritism within that facility, and what this meant for the men and women committed to the Asylum’s custody. To this end, contemporaneous official reports from Asylum staff and Colonial authorities were consulted, in conjunction with the Asylum’s internal records such as registers and individual patient files. This thesis concludes that the evolution of the Colony’s psychiatric community’s beliefs around mental illness, philosophies of protective custody and moral treatment within the psychiatric community at the time, the region’s laws governing psychiatric institutionalisation, and the larger context of the Cape’s socio-political environment at the time converged to create an institution that practiced discrimination on both a macro- and micro-level. This discriminatory framework affected who was admitted, the diagnosis that each person received, the asylum facilities to which they had access, and further, to the odds against their recovery. The implications of this study are relevant in the present day, as the modern South African system of psychiatric institutionalisation, though embedded within a socio-political context of equality and non-discrimination nevertheless appears to suffer from a similarly undemocratic framework of operation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
“Don’t be alarmed. It’s to do with sex.” Sherlock Holmes fanfiction and freedom of the imaginary domain
- Authors: van der Nest, Megan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fan fiction , Fans (Persons) -- Fiction , Holmes, Sherlock , Literature and the internet , Sex in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124208 , vital:35576
- Description: In this thesis I argue that, for the individual fan, reading and writing fanfiction texts, and engaging with the online fandom communities within which these texts are produced, is a potentially valuable experience. This is because the kind of social and creative spaces found in these communities allow for, and celebrate, the free imaginative play with romantic and sexual desires, identities, and relationships. To articulate the importance of these spaces, I draw on Drucilla Cornell’s concept of the imaginary domain, defined as the psychic space each individual uses to explore different sexual desires and personae, which exploration is necessary for the development of full personhood. I also argue that the growing visibility and influence of fandom in modern society means that it could serve as a mechanism for social change, particularly in the acceptance and support of multiple sexual identities and forms of love. Selected texts, drawn from the Sherlock fandom, are discussed as representative of the approach taken within fanfiction communities towards various aspects of sexuality and sexual ethics. This approach combines the enthusiastic exploration of sexual desires without shame or fear of judgment with an ongoing, critical interrogation of sexual ethics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: van der Nest, Megan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fan fiction , Fans (Persons) -- Fiction , Holmes, Sherlock , Literature and the internet , Sex in literature
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124208 , vital:35576
- Description: In this thesis I argue that, for the individual fan, reading and writing fanfiction texts, and engaging with the online fandom communities within which these texts are produced, is a potentially valuable experience. This is because the kind of social and creative spaces found in these communities allow for, and celebrate, the free imaginative play with romantic and sexual desires, identities, and relationships. To articulate the importance of these spaces, I draw on Drucilla Cornell’s concept of the imaginary domain, defined as the psychic space each individual uses to explore different sexual desires and personae, which exploration is necessary for the development of full personhood. I also argue that the growing visibility and influence of fandom in modern society means that it could serve as a mechanism for social change, particularly in the acceptance and support of multiple sexual identities and forms of love. Selected texts, drawn from the Sherlock fandom, are discussed as representative of the approach taken within fanfiction communities towards various aspects of sexuality and sexual ethics. This approach combines the enthusiastic exploration of sexual desires without shame or fear of judgment with an ongoing, critical interrogation of sexual ethics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020