SCY3380

Women, psychiatry and madness

Proposed to be offered next in 2000

Jan van Bommel

8 points - 2 hours per week - Second semester - Clayton

Objectives On successful completion of this subject students should have been introduced to the socio-historical background which has shaped the various phases of the institutionalisation and de-institutionalisation of madness in contemporary society; introduced to the diverse sociological and feminist critiques of the subject area, women, psychiatry and madness; familiarised with different interpretations of psychoanalysis and female subjectivity, such as, Freudian, Lacanian and French feminist; enabled to understand, analyse and articulate the various theoretical approaches studied; and provided with analytical and conceptual resources so they may write clear and competent essays on various topics.

Synopsis We will begin with a socio-historical analysis of the institutionalisation of madness and the current practice of de-institutionalisation. We will then critically assess sociological, medical and feminist theories of femininity and madness. The subject will focus on how the institution psychiatry diagnoses as madness those aspects of women's experience it intends to invalidate and then cure. As well, we will examine various interpretations of psychoanalysis and female subjectivity (Freudian, Lacanian, French Feminist).

Assessment Two essays (3000 words each): 50% each

Preliminary reading

Astbury J Crazy for you: The Making of women's madness OUP, 1996
Bernheimer C and Kahane C (eds) In Dora's case: Freud, hysteria, feminism Virago, 1985
Busfield J Managing madness Unwin Hyman, 1989
Chesler P Women and madness Doubleday, 1972
Foucault M Madness and civilization Tavistock, 1967
Grosz E Sexual subversions Allen and Unwin, 1989
Russell D Women, madness and medicine Polity, 1995
Showalter E The female malady: Women, madness and English culture, 1830-1980 Pantheon, 1985
Smith D E and David S J (eds) Women look at psychiatry Press Gang, 1975

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