HIUS 390 Research Project: Annotated Bibliography Example Norris, Caroline. “A History of

HIUS 390

Research Project: Annotated Bibliography Example

Norris, Caroline. “A History of Madness.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 125, no. 2 (2017): 138-182.

Norris uses four prominent Virginia lunatic asylums as examples of the changing social and medical trends through Virginia’s history as Virginians have attempted to care for those whose mental states could lead to potential violence toward themselves or others. She considers the state’s historic and ongoing efforts to manage mental illness. Starting with colonial attempts to address the issue, Norris moves through Virginia’s evolving attitudes toward the clinically insane from the earliest asylums’ prison-like atmospheres to the “moral management” approaches of the late 19th century to the current methods of deinstitutionalization. Norris concludes that the problems of the clinically insane are both individual and societal and full of complexities that require ongoing efforts to address. Norris’s research on the history of the insane in Virginia offers a unique look at mental health care in the state. This will support research on the topic of Virginia’s public versus private institutional systems of care by addressing the subject of mental health.

Integrated quotation:

While philosophies over how to care for clinically insane patients differed over time, throughout their histories the asylums benefitted “by having a dedicated, energetic, and humane superintendent, professionally capable and devoted to providing the best and most careful treatment to his patients”.

Paraphrase:

Norris argues that modern approaches to caring for the clinically insane reflect many that were present in the colonial era, from high suicide rates and difficulty getting professional help for the mentally ill who lack the necessary funds, to their widespread imprisonment and the societal stigma against them.