Mental health and psychiatric care in the Second Spanish Republic

History of Psychiatry

Volumn 9, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 51-64

  Huertas, Rafael ^a  

^a CSIC   (Spain)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; HISTORY; MENTAL HEALTH; PSYCHIATRY; SPAIN;

HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; MENTAL HEALTH; PSYCHIATRY; SPAIN;

EID: 0032014149     PISSN: 0957154X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0957154x9800903305     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. Technical report by Sanz, Navarro, Soria and Santo Domingo, produced at the request of the Director General of Health, quoted in Guillermo Rendueles, 'La psiquiatría asilar española', in Manuel González Chavez (ed.), La Transformación de la Asistencia Psiquiátrica (Madrid: Mayoría, 1980), 131.
2. Ramón Garcia, 'El estado actual de la cuestión psiquiátrica en España', in Fernando Alvarez-Uria (ed.), Marginación e inserción. Los nuevos retos de las políticas sociales (Madrid: Endymion, 1992), 181.
3. Joseph María Comelles, La razón y la sinrazón. Asistencia psiquiátrica y desarrollo del Estado en la España contemporánea (Barcelona: PPU, 1988).
4. Juan Antonio Espino, 'La reforma de la legislación psiquiátrica en la Segunda República: su influencia asistencial', Estudios de Historia Social, xiv (1980), 59-106.
5. A first attempt at this research can be found in Rafael Huertas, 'El papel de la higiene mental en los primeros intentos de transformación de la asistencia psiquiátrica en España', Dynamis, xv (1995), 193-209.
6. The importance of this journal as an undisputed reference point for the entire pre-war Spanish psychiatric movement has been clarified by various authors. See Martinez Pardo, F., La neuropsiquiatría española vista a través de Archivos de Neurobiología (Madrid: Archivos de Neurobiología 1978).
7. José María Sacristán, 'Para la reforma de la asistencia a los enfermos mentales en España', Archivos de Neurobiología, ii (1921), 1.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., 1-2. Sacristán quotes Kraepelin from a conference on 'Die psychiatrischen Aufgaben des Staates in 1900'.
10. Ibid., 11.
11. Ibid.
12. Ramón Sarró and Rodrigo G. Pinto, 'Regimen de los manicomios privados que albergan enfermos de la Beneficencia', Archivos de Neurobiología, xiv (1934), 613-41. The activities of the League, its programmes and the conclusions of its assemblies etc., can be followed in the Archivos de Neurobiología.
13. Ibid., 614.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid., 617.
16. Ibid., 618.
17. Sacristán, op. cit., 11-12.
18. Sacristán, op. cit., 12.; Sarró and Pinto, op. cit., 616.
19. Sacristán, op. cit., 12.; Sarró and Pinto, op. cit., 616.
20. For the suggested financing of the Republican psychiatric reform see Juan Antonio Espino, 'La reforma psiquiátrica durante la II República', en Rafael Huertas et al., Perspectivas Psiquiátricas (Madrid: CSIC, 1987), 228.
21. Sarró and Pinto, op. cit., 615.
22. Sacristán, op. cit., 10.
23. Ibid., 11.
24. Tomás Busquet, 'La asistencia a los psicópatas en Suiza, Alemania y Francia. Plan de organización de los servicios en la provincia de Barcelona' (Barcelona: Diputación Provincial de Barcelona, 1927).
25. Tomás Busquet, 'Organización técnica de los servicios provinciales de dementes', Psiguiatría, iv (1) (1925), 7.
26. Gonzalo Rodríguez Lafora, 'Lo que debe ser un Manicomio provincial', Archivos de Neurobiologia, xi (1931), 299.
27. Oscar Torras, 'Las modernas orientaciones de la asistencia de los enfermos mentales', Psiquiatría, ii (1923a), 21.
28. Ibid., 9.
29. Ibid., 11.
30. Busquet, op. cit., 12.
31. Ibid., 12.
32. Ibid.
33. J. Mas Casamada, 'Una visita a la colonia familiar de psicópatas de Gheel', Psiquiatría, iii (4) (1924), 1-10. The fascination of the alienist movement with the experience of Gheel dates back to the nineteenth century and has been analysed by W. L. Parry-Jones, 'The model of the Gheel lunatic colony and its influence in the nineteenth-century asylum system in Britain', Andrew Scull (ed.), Madhouses, Mad-Doctors and Madmen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981), 201-17; and Rafael Huertas, 'La comunidad de Gheel: una alternativa de asistencia psiquiátrice en el siglo XIX', Revista de la Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría, viii (1988), 257-66.
34. J. Mas Casamada, 'Una visita a la colonia familiar de psicópatas de Gheel', Psiquiatría, iii (4) (1924), 1-10. The fascination of the alienist movement with the experience of Gheel dates back to the nineteenth century and has been analysed by W. L. Parry-Jones, 'The model of the Gheel lunatic colony and its influence in the nineteenth-century asylum system in Britain', Andrew Scull (ed.), Madhouses, Mad-Doctors and Madmen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981), 201-17; and Rafael Huertas, 'La comunidad de Gheel: una alternativa de asistencia psiquiátrice en el siglo XIX', Revista de la Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría, viii (1988), 257-66.
35. J. Mas Casamada, 'Una visita a la colonia familiar de psicópatas de Gheel', Psiquiatría, iii (4) (1924), 1-10. The fascination of the alienist movement with the experience of Gheel dates back to the nineteenth century and has been analysed by W. L. Parry-Jones, 'The model of the Gheel lunatic colony and its influence in the nineteenth-century asylum system in Britain', Andrew Scull (ed.), Madhouses, Mad-Doctors and Madmen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981), 201-17; and Rafael Huertas, 'La comunidad de Gheel: una alternativa de asistencia psiquiátrice en el siglo XIX', Revista de la Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría, viii (1988), 257-66.
36. Paul Sérieux published the results of a journey of inspection of European mental institutions in his Rapport sur l'assistance des aliénés en France, en Allemagne, en Italie et en Suisse (1903). He also proposed far-reaching reforms of the French welfare system, which were taken into account in the Spanish system, Busquet, op. cit., 12.
37. The order appeared in the Gaceta (Gazette) of 27 January 1927; the quoted text comes from Article No. 1.
38. A campaign to promote mental hygiene developed in Catalonia during the 1920s using the Revista Médica Barcelonesa (the Barcelona Medical Journal) as its principal means of expression. In addition to several editorials the articles of Belarmino Rodríguez Arias are of interest, 'La cruzada pro-Higiene Mental en España', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xi (1929), 193-5; 'La Higiene Mental en Catalunya', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xviii (1932), 425-7. Some years later the same author commented on his vision of those years: B. Rodriguez Arias, 'Origenes de Movimiento Pro-Higiene Mental en España', Anales de Medicina y Cirugía, xiii (1973), 110-18. An important stimulus to the discussion of mental hygiene in Spain was the Celebration of the Congress of Mental Hygiene of 1930 in Washington, which raised great hopes and prompted commissions for the preparation of Spanish participation. Three participants published a detailed report concerning the latter; see J. M. Sacristán, J. Germain and B. Rodríguez Arias, 'Psiquiatría práctica e Higiene Mental (impresiones de un viaje a los Estados Unidos)', Archivos de Neurobiología, x (1930), 325-415.
39. A campaign to promote mental hygiene developed in Catalonia during the 1920s using the Revista Médica Barcelonesa (the Barcelona Medical Journal) as its principal means of expression. In addition to several editorials the articles of Belarmino Rodríguez Arias are of interest, 'La cruzada pro-Higiene Mental en España', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xi (1929), 193-5; 'La Higiene Mental en Catalunya', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xviii (1932), 425-7. Some years later the same author commented on his vision of those years: B. Rodriguez Arias, 'Origenes de Movimiento Pro-Higiene Mental en España', Anales de Medicina y Cirugía, xiii (1973), 110-18. An important stimulus to the discussion of mental hygiene in Spain was the Celebration of the Congress of Mental Hygiene of 1930 in Washington, which raised great hopes and prompted commissions for the preparation of Spanish participation. Three participants published a detailed report concerning the latter; see J. M. Sacristán, J. Germain and B. Rodríguez Arias, 'Psiquiatría práctica e Higiene Mental (impresiones de un viaje a los Estados Unidos)', Archivos de Neurobiología, x (1930), 325-415.
40. A campaign to promote mental hygiene developed in Catalonia during the 1920s using the Revista Médica Barcelonesa (the Barcelona Medical Journal) as its principal means of expression. In addition to several editorials the articles of Belarmino Rodríguez Arias are of interest, 'La cruzada pro-Higiene Mental en España', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xi (1929), 193-5; 'La Higiene Mental en Catalunya', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xviii (1932), 425-7. Some years later the same author commented on his vision of those years: B. Rodriguez Arias, 'Origenes de Movimiento Pro-Higiene Mental en España', Anales de Medicina y Cirugía, xiii (1973), 110-18. An important stimulus to the discussion of mental hygiene in Spain was the Celebration of the Congress of Mental Hygiene of 1930 in Washington, which raised great hopes and prompted commissions for the preparation of Spanish participation. Three participants published a detailed report concerning the latter; see J. M. Sacristán, J. Germain and B. Rodríguez Arias, 'Psiquiatría práctica e Higiene Mental (impresiones de un viaje a los Estados Unidos)', Archivos de Neurobiología, x (1930), 325-415.
41. A campaign to promote mental hygiene developed in Catalonia during the 1920s using the Revista Médica Barcelonesa (the Barcelona Medical Journal) as its principal means of expression. In addition to several editorials the articles of Belarmino Rodríguez Arias are of interest, 'La cruzada pro-Higiene Mental en España', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xi (1929), 193-5; 'La Higiene Mental en Catalunya', Revista Médica Barcelonesa, xviii (1932), 425-7. Some years later the same author commented on his vision of those years: B. Rodriguez Arias, 'Origenes de Movimiento Pro-Higiene Mental en España', Anales de Medicina y Cirugía, xiii (1973), 110-18. An important stimulus to the discussion of mental hygiene in Spain was the Celebration of the Congress of Mental Hygiene of 1930 in Washington, which raised great hopes and prompted commissions for the preparation of Spanish participation. Three participants published a detailed report concerning the latter; see J. M. Sacristán, J. Germain and B. Rodríguez Arias, 'Psiquiatría práctica e Higiene Mental (impresiones de un viaje a los Estados Unidos)', Archivos de Neurobiología, x (1930), 325-415.
42. See E. Winters, 'Adolf Meyer and Clifford Beers, 1907-1910', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, xliii (1969), 414-43.
43. Rafael Huertas, 'Edouard Toulouse y el servicio psiquiátrico de puertas abiertas', Asclepio, xli (1) (1989), 261-80.
44. Summarized by Sacristán, Germain and Rodríguez Arias, op. cit., 339.
45. One example was the development of mental hygiene in Catalonia, with interesting variations from quoted objectives in its emphasis on protection from childhood destitution. This was already present in the 1921 and 1923 projects of the Mancomunitat that culminated in the creation of the Institut Médico-Pedagógic and, later, the Institute per a Deficients de Vilajoana; see Comelles, op. cit., 127.
46. On the eugenic movement in Spain, see Raquel Alvarez, 'Introducción al estudio de la eugenesia española (1900-1936)', Quipu, ii (1) (1985) 95-122.
47. Oscar Torras, 'Los dispensarios psiquiátricos y los servicios sociales de asistencia', Psiquiatría, ii (1923b), 23.
48. On this process of somatization of mental illness during this period, see Raquel Alvarez, Rafael Huertas and José Luis Peset, 'Enfermedad mental y sociedad en la Europa de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX', Asclepio, liv (2) (1993), 41-60. On the role of forensic psychiatry in this process in Spain, see Rafael Huertas and José Martinez, 'Disease and crime in Spanish positivist psychiatry', History of Psychiatry, iv (1993), 459-81.
49. On this process of somatization of mental illness during this period, see Raquel Alvarez, Rafael Huertas and José Luis Peset, 'Enfermedad mental y sociedad en la Europa de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX', Asclepio, liv (2) (1993), 41-60. On the role of forensic psychiatry in this process in Spain, see Rafael Huertas and José Martinez, 'Disease and crime in Spanish positivist psychiatry', History of Psychiatry, iv (1993), 459-81.
50. Torras (1923a), op. cit., 24.
51. Oscar Torras, 'Los servicios libres psiquiátricos', Psiquiatría, ii (1923c), 23-4.
52. Sacristán insisted that 'the mental hospital is not, as stated in the Royal Order of 26th of November 1903, which clarifies the precept in Article No. 5 of that of 1885', a hard and repressive system 'but a hospital or medical clinic where the sick should be attended to as such. The mental institution must never be considered as a reformatory penitentiary', op. cit., 5.
53. Torras, op. cit., 27. After Antheaume, he drew a distinction between psychopaths and the insane. The former were considered to be those who showed morbid, violent and dangerous reactions and required prolonged admission, or those who refused to be subjected to medical treatment; on the other hand, a wide range of 'insane' patients were managed by open services.
54. See Josep Bernabeu and Encarna Gascón, 'El papel de la enfermería en el desarrollo de la salud pública española (1923-1935): la visitadora sanitaria', Dynamis, xv (1995), 151-76.
55. See Gonzalo Rodríguaz Lafora, 'Organización del dispensario psiquiátrico para grandes y pequeñas urbes', El Siglo Médico, lxxxii (1928), 374.
56. In reality, the distinction between 'free' services and dispensaries was in many cases artificial since they tended to share physical accommodation and were intimately related. There was a combination of outpatient consultation and brief hospitalization with social services and support, such as in the Psychopathic Ward of New York, the Rouselle Hospital in Paris or the Psychiatrisches Institut of Munich, three of the pioneering institutions of the new care model.
57. Lafora, op. cit., 373. The creation of a Ministry of Health was the subject of almost constant discussion in public health politics during the first decades of this century. See Rafael Huertas, 'El debate sobre la creación del Ministerio de Sanidad en la España del primer tercio del siglo XX. Discurso ideológico e iniciativas políticas', Asclepio, xlv (1) (1993), 89-122.
58. Lafora, op. cit., 373. The creation of a Ministry of Health was the subject of almost constant discussion in public health politics during the first decades of this century. See Rafael Huertas, 'El debate sobre la creación del Ministerio de Sanidad en la España del primer tercio del siglo XX. Discurso ideológico e iniciativas políticas', Asclepio, xlv (1) (1993), 89-122.
59. Espino, op. cit., 224.
60. This phrase comes from the account of the motives for the Decree which was published in the Gaceta of 7 July 1931.