Paper Abstract
A 6 page look at how mental illness was perceived and treated during colonial times. During this period, the mentally ill were regarded as individual - and not social problems. Western culture often assumed that retarded citizens were bewitched or bedeviled in some way. The concept of colonial institutionalization is looked at as are laws pertaining to what level of mental fitness was sufficient to allow someone to remain among the rest of society. For the most part, the colonial era is criticized for its unfair handling of the mentally ill. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
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