{"title":"The madness they endured: A biocultural examination of women's experiences of structural violence within 20th-century Missouri state mental hospitals","authors":"Madeline M. Atwell","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2022.05.001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study employs feminist disability theory and the concept of structural violence to interpret the results of skeletal and documentary analysis of fracture and disease presence (i.e., syphilis and tuberculosis) among a group of institutionalized women who lived and died within 20th-century Missouri state mental hospitals.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>The skeletal remains and corresponding death certificates of 52 adult Euro-American women housed in the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center. Archival and historical literature concerning state mental hospitals were also utilized.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Macroscopic skeletal analysis of fracture and disease combined with archival research (i.e., associated death certificates and historical documentation).</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Approximately 15% of patients demonstrated evidence of perimortem hip fractures with no surgical intervention, most of whom were labeled \"psychotic\". Death certificates revealed the presence of syphilis (n = 4) and death from TB (n = 5).</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Nineteenth and 20th-century patriarchal conditions contributed to the institutionalization of women. Women who were impoverished, spouseless, and perceived as mentally or physically disabled were particularly vulnerable to institutionalization. Once hospitalized, patients were exposed to structurally violent conditions including neglect and abuse that resulted in avoidable harm.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>Historical and documentary data associated with osteological collections is underutilized and can serve to both humanize these individuals and advance our understanding of their intersectional experiences. The implementation of theoretical frameworks within bioarchaeology can also assist in more holistically interpreting the complexities of past life.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Small, homogenous sample size limited by macroscopic analysis.</p></div><div><h3>Further Research</h3><p>Future work should increase sample size, heterogeneity, and conduct other relevant skeletal and documentary analyses.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"39 ","pages":"Pages 75-84"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Paleopathology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981722000183","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PALEONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Objective
This study employs feminist disability theory and the concept of structural violence to interpret the results of skeletal and documentary analysis of fracture and disease presence (i.e., syphilis and tuberculosis) among a group of institutionalized women who lived and died within 20th-century Missouri state mental hospitals.
Materials
The skeletal remains and corresponding death certificates of 52 adult Euro-American women housed in the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center. Archival and historical literature concerning state mental hospitals were also utilized.
Methods
Macroscopic skeletal analysis of fracture and disease combined with archival research (i.e., associated death certificates and historical documentation).
Results
Approximately 15% of patients demonstrated evidence of perimortem hip fractures with no surgical intervention, most of whom were labeled "psychotic". Death certificates revealed the presence of syphilis (n = 4) and death from TB (n = 5).
Conclusions
Nineteenth and 20th-century patriarchal conditions contributed to the institutionalization of women. Women who were impoverished, spouseless, and perceived as mentally or physically disabled were particularly vulnerable to institutionalization. Once hospitalized, patients were exposed to structurally violent conditions including neglect and abuse that resulted in avoidable harm.
Significance
Historical and documentary data associated with osteological collections is underutilized and can serve to both humanize these individuals and advance our understanding of their intersectional experiences. The implementation of theoretical frameworks within bioarchaeology can also assist in more holistically interpreting the complexities of past life.
Limitations
Small, homogenous sample size limited by macroscopic analysis.
Further Research
Future work should increase sample size, heterogeneity, and conduct other relevant skeletal and documentary analyses.
期刊介绍：
Paleopathology is the study and application of methods and techniques for investigating diseases and related conditions from skeletal and soft tissue remains. The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) will publish original and significant articles on human and animal (including hominids) disease, based upon the study of physical remains, including osseous, dental, and preserved soft tissues at a range of methodological levels, from direct observation to molecular, chemical, histological and radiographic analysis. Discussion of ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and life histories in the past is central to the discipline, so the journal would also encourage papers covering interpretive and theoretical issues, and those that place the study of disease at the centre of a bioarchaeological or biocultural approach. Papers dealing with historical evidence relating to disease in the past (rather than history of medicine) will also be published. The journal will also accept significant studies that applied previously developed techniques to new materials, setting the research in the context of current debates on past human and animal health.
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