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Trust amply recompensed: Psychological research at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, 1957–1961
Author(s) -
Mills John A.,
Dyck Erika
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of the history of the behavioral sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.216
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1520-6696
pISSN - 0022-5061
DOI - 10.1002/jhbs.20311
Subject(s) - mental health , merge (version control) , accommodation , politics , mental health care , variety (cybernetics) , mental illness , mental healthcare , government (linguistics) , psychology , health care , public relations , public administration , political science , psychiatry , law , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science , information retrieval
During the 1950s and 1960s professionals intensely debated the prospect of changes in the mental health system, largely as a result of the introduction of new therapies, revised theories of mental disorder, and shifting policies governing mental health accommodation. As well as giving rise to new subspecialties within medicine, psychiatrists in some jurisdictions at this time worked closely with psychologists in an attempt to offer a more comprehensive set of options that merged theory with practice. In Saskatchewan, mental health professionals worked closely with government officials and bureaucrats and produced a variety of innovative strategies that addressed changing priorities in this system. This article examines the role played by psychologists in Saskatchewan during this period as they worked cooperatively with psychiatrists and bureaucrats to merge medical, psychological, and political perspectives in a system aimed at accommodating mental illness in the wake of new theories and treatments that questioned the efficacy of care in institutionalized settings in the wake of growing suggestions for care in the community. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.