Institutional non-correspondence: materiality and ideology in the mental institutions of New South Wales

Abstract

Summary: The buildings and landscapes that constituted the mental institutions of the 19th and 20th centuries were not neutral spaces within which psychiatric theory could be enacted, but rather were highly ideological. This paper is concerned with the lack of correspondence between the ideals of psychiatric theory and the reality of mental institutions’ material environments. The principle of non-correspondence is applied to four mental institutions from New South Wales, Australia, to demonstrate the consequences of, and responses to, this lack of correspondence and its implications for the study of institutions archaeologically.

SUMMARY IN FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN AND SPANISH

RESUME

Le manque de correspondance institutionnelle : Matérialité et idéologie dans les instituts psychiatriques de la Nouvelle Galles du Sud

Les bâtiments et paysages qui constituent les instituts psychiatriques des XIXe et XXe siècles n’étaient pas des espaces neutres dans lesquels la théorie psychiatrique pouvait être promulguée, mais étaient plutôt hautement idéologiques. Cet article concerne le manque de correspondance entre les idéaux de la théorie psychiatrique et la réalité des environnements matériels des instituts psychiatriques. Le principe de l’absence de correspondance est appliqué dans quatre instituts psychiatriques de la Nouvelle Galles du Sud, en Australie pour démontrer les conséquences de et les réponses à ce manque de correspondance et ses implications pour l’étude archéologiques de ces instituts.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Institutionelle Nicht-Korrespondenz: Grundsatz der Wesentlichkeit und Ideologie in den psychiatrischen Anstalten in New South Wales

Die Gebäude und Landschaften, die die psychiatrischen Anstalten des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts darstellten, waren keine neutralen Flächen, in denen sich psychiatrische Theorien ausbreiten konnten, sondern sie waren eher hoch ideologisch angesiedelt. Dieser Aufsatz befaßt sich mit dem Fehlen von Korrespondenz zwischen den Idealen der psychiatrischen Theorie und der Realität der dinglichen Ausstattung der psychiatrischen Anstalten. Das Prinzip der Nicht-Korrespondenz ist angewendet in vier psychiatrischen Anstalten von New South Wales, um Australien die Konsequenzen, die Antworten, das Fehlen der Korrespondenz und die Auswirkungen für archäologische Studien der Institutionen zu zeigen.

RIASSUNTO

Non-corrispondenza istituzionale: materialità e ideologia nelle Istituzioni Mentali del Nuovo Galles del Sud

Gli edifici e i paesaggi che costituiscono gli ospedali psichiatrici del XIX e XX secolo non sono spazi neutri all’interno dei quali la teoria psichiatrica potrebbe essere messa in atto, ma sono piuttosto spazi altamente ideologici. Questo articolo si occupa della mancanza di corrispondenza fra gli ideali della teoria psichiatrica e la realtà del contesto materiale degli istituti di igiene mentale. Il principio di non corrispondenza è applicato a quattro istituti di cura del Nuovo Galles del Sud in Australia, per dimostrare le conseguenze di e la risposta a questa mancanza di corrisponda, comprese le sue implicazioni per lo studio degli istituti in sé da un punto di vista archeologico.

RESUMEN

Sin correspondencia institucional: Materialidad e ideología en las instituciones mentales de Nueva Gales del Sur

Los edificios y los paisajes que constituyeron las instituciones mentales de los siglos XIX y XX no fueron espacios neutrales donde desarrollar la teoría psiquiátrica sino que fueron espacios cargados ideológicamente. Este artículo se basa en la falta de correspondencia entre los ideales de la teoría psiquiátrica y la realidad de los entornos materiales de las instituciones mentales. El principio de una ‘falta de correspondencia’ se aplica a cuatro instituciones mentales de Nueva Gales del Sur, Australia, para demostrar las consecuencias y las respuestas a esta falta de correspondencia y lo que ello implica a la hora de estudiar arqueológicamente dichas instituciones.

Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

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Notes

1  Fletcher 2004.

2  Cummins 2003, 34.

3  Foucault 1961 (trans. 2006).

4  Fletcher 1995; 2004.

5  Fletcher 2004, 133.

6  Boivin 2008, 129.

7  Tarlow 2007, 29.

8  For example, Goffman 1961; Skultans 1985; Busfield 1986; Lewis 1988; Coleborne & MacKinnon 2003; Coleborne 2010; McCarthy 2012.

9  Foucault 1974; 1961.

10  Markus 1993, 130.

11  For example, Kosky 1986; Finnane 2009.

12  Yanni 2007; Topp et al. 2007.

13  Piddock 2007; 2009.

14  Fennelly 2014.

15  See Casella 2007 and Beisaw & Gibb 2009 for overviews of the archaeology of institutions.

16  For example, Gojak & Iacano 1993; Casella 2001; Casella 2002; Warfel 2009.

17  De Cunzo 1995; 2001.

18  De Cunzo 2006:182.

19  Warfel 2009, 150.

20  Piddock 2009, 187–188.

21  Leong 1984; Environmental Design Group 1991; Freeman Collett & Partners 1993; Heritage Group 1993; Morris 1993; Rosen 1994; Clive Lucas Stapleton & Partners 1995; Freeman & Ellsmore 1999; Heritage Design Services 2000; Heritage Group 2000; Tanner & Associates 2001; Betteridge 2011.

22  Lewis 1988, 4.

23  Manning 1868.

24  ‘Ideal’ institution models consulted: Pinel 1806; Stark 1807; Reid 1809; Tuke 1813; Tuke 1815; Browne 1837; Hill 1838; Jacobi 1841; Conolly 1847; Kirkbride 1854; Sankey 1856; Arlidge 1859; Anon. 1862; Toller 1866; Robertson 1867.

25  Piddock 2007, 117.

26  Skultans 1975, 56.

27  Ha-ha walls are walls constructed at the base of a slope or ditch. They contained people within the grounds of the institution while remaining largely concealed, thereby affording views of the surrounding landscape and a sense of freedom.

28  Shorter 1997.

29  Porter 2002, 206–7.

30  McCourt Perring 1993, 29.

31  Hopton 2006.

32  Porter 2002, 207.

33  Functional categories: accommodation (patients), accommodation (staff), administration, amenities, boundaries, landscape, recreation, treatment, other.

34  Processes of change: construction, demolition, addition, acquisition, de-acquisition, alteration, conversion, relocation, landscaping, abandonment.

35  Cummins 2003.

36  The Town and Country Journal 1908.

37  Manning 1868.

38  Piddock 2007.

39  Tanner & Associates 2001, 18.

40  States Grants (Mental Institutions) Act 1955, State Records NSW 1961.

41  Tanner & Associates 2001, 17.

42  Tuke 1813; 1815.

43  Gieryn 2002, 41–2.

44  Gieryn 2002, 43.

45  Cummins 2003, 35–36.

46  Malcolm 2009 discusses a similar phenomenon, finding that the design of the Kew Asylum in Melbourne, Australia was already out-of-date at the time it opened.

47  Manning 1868, 120.

48  Manning 1868, 117.

49  Stoller 1955, 23.

50  Stoller 1955, 32.

51  Gieryn 2002, 45.

52  Finnane 2009, 6.

53  Stoller 1955, 26.

54  Gieryn 2002, 45.

55  Gieryn 2002, 45.

56  Stoller 1955.