Summary
This thesis is focused on The Psychogram newsletter, which was a periodical that ran from 1916–1977 at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains, New Jersey. Patients played a role in every facet of its production. It provided the reader with information regarding the workings of a psychiatric hospital and the unique insight that the patients provide regarding their experiences and understanding of their treatment. Patients shared poetry, artwork, book reviews, and letters to staff. Staff also wrote articles for families that had relatives staying at the hospital to provide them with information regarding treatments and the general welfare of the institution. The Psychogram was produced in the hospital’s expansive occupational therapy program, which grew under the direction of Medical Director Britton Duroc Evans. Evans played a key role in the development and implementation of The Psychogram, as well as incorporating a range of therapeutic treatments under the occupational therapy program, which helped patients to maintain a sense of normalcy while being treated at an institution during a turbulent period in the history of mental healthcare. The Psychogram helped to dispel misconceptions that families had regarding the treatment of the mentally ill within an institutional setting. The unique voices of the patients and staff I will examine demonstrate how therapeutic programs changed, if there was continuity, and how Evans laid the groundwork for the future of the hospital.
Read More ↓Edition Statements
- Publication Date:2020
Thesis Information
- Degree:M.A.
- University:University of Massachusetts Boston
- Advisor/Supervisor:Hacsi, Timothy
- Pages:87
Publication Statements
- Language:eng
- Publication Date:2020
Edition Identifiers
- proquest:2480285220
Subjects
Writers
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate this work.
Rate & Review