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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Black Insane in the Cape, 1891-1920
Author:Swartz, SallyISNI
Year:1995
Periodical:Journal of Southern African Studies
Volume:21
Issue:3
Period:September
Pages:399-415
Language:English
Geographic terms:South Africa
The Cape
Subjects:Blacks
racism
psychiatry
Health and Nutrition
Ethnic and Race Relations
History and Exploration
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/2637251
Abstract:This paper examines the treatment of the black insane in asylums in the Cape Colony (South Africa) during the period from 1891 to 1920. During this time racial segregation and differentiated treatment of white and black mental patients was consolidated. The paper discusses the argument of racial and cultural difference which was used to justify differences in resources allocated to white and black asylums and describes the use of black patients as an unpaid labour force. Furthermore, it uses case material to illustrate ways in which perceptions of the black insane affected their treatment. In conclusion, comments are presented on the discursive construction of black 'insanity' and black 'mentality'. Data are derived from correspondence, annual reports and documentation on individual patients. Notes, ref., sum.
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