Spatial changes in an Oxford public asylum

Journal article

This article examines spatial changes at Littlemore hospital in Oxford between 1846 and 1956, the period since its foundation as a Victorian public asylum to the very last years before a radical psychiatric reform was implemented. I propose to see the asylum and later hospital spaces of Littlemore as being bodily sensed and co-productive with social processes. Specifically, I discuss the entanglement of these spaces with three factors: (panoptical) control, considerations of cost, and residents' comfort. With emphases on residents' bodily well-being and experiences, I aim to present a dynamic account of this part of the history of institutionalized mental health.

Authors: Peng, Y

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Anthropological Society of Oxford
• Journal: Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford Online
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 200-223
• Publication date: 2020-01-01
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-avrwynnmd
• ISSN: 2040-1876
• Language: English
• Keywords: JASO