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In 1802, Dorothea Dix was born in Hampden, Maine. In regards to Dorothea's childhood, not much is known. It is believed that Dorothea was raised by her parents who suffered from alcoholism and was abused by her father. Due to her poor childhood, she decided to move to Boston, Massachusetts at 12 years old to live with her grandmother. While pursuing her goals of attending school and tutoring children, Dorothea developed mental and physical illnesses and as a result she moved to Europe. In Europe, she was exposed to reformers who wanted to make changes to the way mentally ill people in the community were cared for (Norwood, 2017).

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After returning to the United States, Dorothea Dix explored mental institutes and visited  prisons across the country. Violent criminals were housed next to the mentally ill and they were treated brutally. Because she witnessed such poor treatment conditions, she chose to fight for improvements on the way criminals and the mentally ill were cared for. Dorothea Dix continued to travel to collect enough evidence so she could present a petition to the state legislature (Warder, 2018).

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Dorothea Dix lived in a time period where women did not have a voice, however, she became "an effective and active political lobbyist at the state and federal levels of government" (Warden, 2018). Her appeal allowed her to be granted funding from the Massachusetts legislature for the Worcester Institution. As she continued her long career of advocating, she lobbied for the construction of asylums with the federal government and the states. As a result, she established 32 institutions for the mentally ill (Warden, 2018). She had an impact on social work because she was dedicated to helping those who could not help themselves because of their mental state.

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Norwood, Arlisha. (2017). Dorothea dix. National Women's History Museum.www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dorothea-dix.
Warder, G. (2018). Miss dorothea dix (1802 – 1887): Teacher, nurse, social reformer and advocate for the mentally ill.  Social Welfare History Project. Retrieved [February 18. 2021] from http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/people/dix-dorthea-lynde/

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During her petition, Dorothea Dix states, “I proceed, gentlemen, briefly to call your attention to the present state of insane persons confined within this Commonwealth, in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience…” (Warder, 2018).