Insanity, the Asylum and Society in Nineteenth Century Quebec and Ontario

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Insanity, the Asylum and Society in Nineteenth Century Quebec and Ontario
Abstract
The author traces the development of perceptions of and responses to insanity in nineteenth-century Ontario and Quebec. Attention is paid to the rise of lunatic asylums, those purpose-built institutions for the insane which came to prominence in Ontario and Quebec from the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He argues that the lunatic asylum was the product of the complex interaction of the state, an emerging alienist profession, and those in the community who had a stake in the management and treatment of those they considered to be insane. Unlike Ontario, Quebec adopted a system of “farming out” of the care and treatment of the insane during the nineteenth century. This system first emerged between the state and the proprietors of the province’s first permanent lunatic asylum at Beauport, near Quebec City. In 1845, a group consisting of James Douglas, Joseph Morrin and Charles Frémont acquired a monopoly from the government to provide accommodation for the insane in the province at an asylum at Beauport.
Type
PhD dissertation
University
York University
Place
Toronto, ON
Date
1998
# of Pages
ix-384p.
Language
en
URL
Citation
Moran, James E. “Insanity, the Asylum and Society in Nineteenth Century Quebec and Ontario.” PhD dissertation, York University, 1998. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0021/NQ27309.pdf.
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