Verward van geest en ander ongerief

Abstract

H. Oosterhuis, M. Gijswijt-Hofstra, Verward van geest en ander ongerief. Psychiatrische en geestelijke gezondheidszorg in Nederland (1870-2005)

Mental Disorder and other Encumbrances
The three volumes of Verward van geest offer an extensive overview of the history of psychiatry and mental health care in the Netherlands from the 1870s to the present day. The authors show that in order to explain the increase and differentiation in both the type of care arrangements as well as the clients, the correlation between supply and demand has to be studied. The study is not only descriptive, but also an attempt to interpret and explain the developments. To do so, the authors use concepts such as professionalisation, protoprofessionalisation, professional competition, psychologisation, problem culture, and so forth. However, these different concepts are not aggregated under one single theory, and the sum total of the developments is not approached from one central viewpoint. Instead, the authors have opted for an eclectic approach and use different theoretical concepts to explain different parts and episodes of the historical development in its totality.

This review is part of the discussion forum 'Verward van geest en ander ongerief' (H. Oosterhuis, M. Gijswijt-Hofstra).