Asylum : inside the closed world of state mental hospitals
(Book)
Author
Contributors
Published
Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2009].
ISBN
9780262013499, 0262013495
Status
Description
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Copies
Location | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Batavia Public Library District - Adult Nonfiction | 362.21 PAY | On Shelf |
Blue Island Public Library - Stacks | 362.2 PAY | On Shelf |
Carol Stream Public Library - Adult Nonfiction | 362.21/PAY | On Shelf |
Forest Park Public Library - Stacks | 779 PAYNE | On Shelf |
St. Charles Public Library District - Adult Nonfiction | 362.21 PAY | On Shelf |
More Details
Published
Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2009].
Format
Book
Physical Desc
209 pages : illustrations (some color), chiefly photographs ; 27 x 30 cm
Language
English
ISBN
9780262013499, 0262013495
UPC
3034839
Notes
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
Description
"For more than half the nation's history, vast mental hospitals were a prominent feature of the American landscape. From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, over 250 institutions for the insane were built throughout the United States; by 1948, they housed more than a half million patients. The blueprint for these hospitals was set by Pennsylvania hospital superintendant Thomas Story Kirkbride: a central administration building flanked symmetrically by pavilions and surrounded by lavish grounds with pastoral vistas. Kirkbride and others believed that well-designed buildings and grounds, a peaceful environment, a regimen of fresh air, and places for work, exercise, and cultural activities would heal mental illness. But in the second half of the twentieth century, after the introduction of psychotropic drugs and policy shifts toward community-based care, patient populations declined dramatically, leaving many of these beautiful, massive buildings - and the patients who lived in them - neglected and abandoned. Architect and photographer Christopher Payne spent six years documenting the decay of state mental hospitals like these, visiting seventy institutions in thirty states. Through his lens we see splendid, palatial exteriors (some designed by such prominent architects as H.H. Richardson and Samuel Sloan) and crumbling interiors - chairs stacked against walls with peeling paint in a grand hallway; brightly colored toothbrushes still hanging on a rack; stacks of suitcases, never packed for the trip home. Accompanying Payne's striking and powerful photographs is an essay by Oliver Sacks (who described his own experience working at a state mental hospital in his book Awakenings). Sacks pays tribute to Payne's photographs and to the lives once lived in these places, "where one could be both mad and safe"--Jacket.
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Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Payne, C., & Sacks, O. (2009). Asylum: inside the closed world of state mental hospitals . MIT Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Payne, Christopher, 1968- and Oliver Sacks. 2009. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals. MIT Press.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Payne, Christopher, 1968- and Oliver Sacks. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals MIT Press, 2009.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Payne, Christopher, and Oliver Sacks. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals MIT Press, 2009.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
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