Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates

Goffman's groundbreaking work explores life in total institutions, such as prisons, boarding schools, nursing homes, and mental hospitals, and the relationship between inmates and the institutions that contain them.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 05 May 2022
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

of the twentieth century delves into the profound significance of the asylum. Psychiatric staff, akin to policemen, undertake the unique occupational responsibility of hectoring and moralizing adults. This groundbreaking work of social science takes us on a captivating journey into the world of total institutions, encompassing the closed, regimented systems of prisons, boarding schools, nursing homes, and, most importantly, mental hospitals. These institutions serve as barriers, isolating individuals from society. By examining the intricate relationship between an inmate and the institution that confines them, Goffman sheds light on the intricate management of lives within these confines, the profound loss of selfhood experienced by those held there, and the various strategies employed by individuals to reclaim their identities.

This groundbreaking work of social science delves into the profound significance of the asylum. Psychiatric staff, akin to policemen, undertake the unique occupational responsibility of hectoring and moralizing adults. This groundbreaking work of social science takes us on a captivating journey into the world of total institutions, encompassing the closed, regimented systems of prisons, boarding schools, nursing homes, and, most importantly, mental hospitals. These institutions serve as barriers, isolating individuals from society. By examining the intricate relationship between an inmate and the institution that confines them, Goffman sheds light on the intricate management of lives within these confines, the profound loss of selfhood experienced by those held there, and the various strategies employed by individuals to reclaim their identities.

This groundbreaking work of social science delves into the profound significance of the asylum. Psychiatric staff, akin to policemen, undertake the unique occupational responsibility of hectoring and moralizing adults. This groundbreaking work of social science takes us on a captivating journey into the world of total institutions, encompassing the closed, regimented systems of prisons, boarding schools, nursing homes, and, most importantly, mental hospitals. These institutions serve as barriers, isolating individuals from society. By examining the intricate relationship between an inmate and the institution that confines them, Goffman sheds light on the intricate management of lives within these confines, the profound loss of selfhood experienced by those held there, and the various strategies employed by individuals to reclaim their identities.

Weight: 258g
Dimension: 129 x 197 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241548004