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References

(n.d.). [Image of photograph]. Washington D.C., U.S.A.; Library of Congress. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedi/11750

Buckner, T. (Photographer). (2006). Entrance to Dorothea Dix Hospital. [Image of photograph]. Raleigh, North Carolina; UNC Libraries /
North Carolina Collection. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2009/02/186053542_83573fdb6a_b.jpg

Deinstitutionalization Still Haunts Us Sixty Years Later. (2016, July). Officer.com. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=lom_gvalleysu&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA459795577
&sid=summon&asid=93660d4403bb351e98d4bd7e236ac65a

DuBois, B., & Miley, K. (2014). Social work: An empowering profession (8th ed.).  Boston, Mass: Allyn & Bacon.

Insane asylum reform (1830s-1850s). (2014, November 4). TackkEdu. Retrieved from https://tackk.com/8gc08j

Kneller, S. (2016, June 13). Society must do more for the seriously mentally ill. The Washington Post. Retrieved from ProQuest
(1796111560).

McKown, H. (Artist). (1872). Lunatic asylum. [Illustration]. Raleigh, North Carolina; UNC Libraries / North Carolina Collection. Retrieved
from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/uploads/2009/02/dixhospital.jpg

Walbert, D. (Ed.). (2009). North Carolina: A digital history (p. 11.7). Raleigh, NC: Learn NC.  Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org
/lp/editions/nchist-newnation/4780

Warder, G. (2011). Miss Dorothea Dix (1802 – 1887): Teacher, nurse, social reformer and advocate for the mentally ill.  Social Welfare
History Project. Retrieved from http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/people/dix-dorthea-lynde/

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Dorothea Dix Hospital in 1872

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Dorothea Dix Hospital in 2006 (Raleigh, NC)

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INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION

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INFLUENCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION

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Dix was living proof that women had more to offer society than just being the moral caregivers and nurturers to young children and youth.  Dix “crusaded for hospitals to be founded for more humane treatment of our mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters suffering with brain illnesses” (Kneller, 2016).  Dix’s courageous efforts played a direct role in “the establishment of 110 psychiatric hospitals by 1880” (“Deinstitutionalization,” 2016).  Her personal experiences and empathetic character gave her the courageous qualities she needed to help change U.S. history.

Today, the idea of deinstitutionalization allows patients to be under the good care of their families and communities.  They are given a sense of hope that they, too, can still be productive members of society.  The amount of people residing in mental institutions is still on the decline.  In fact, “the number of people institutionalized declined from 560,000 in 1955 to 125,000 in 1981” (DuBois & Miley, 2014, p. 337).

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Dix faced many hurdles in her career, partly because the profession of social work did not exist (at least, not formally) and partly because she was a woman.  Dix’s solution was to take on a makeshift role as an investigative reporter.  Since women had little to no political voice at that point in U.S. history, Dix “relied [heavily] on powerful male allies to speak for her” (Warder, 2011).  Dix used her own, firsthand observations to sway the political minds of the male-dominant society of her time.  In 1843, she presented a petition to the Massachusetts State Legislature.  “In her petition, hers is the only voice… we see things through her eyes alone” (Warder, 2011).  Sharing her own, powerful observations was very advantageous for her case.  In fact, her direct observations were what indicted the wardens at the State Hospital for the Insane in Worcester (Warder, 2011).  She explained that the patients were being “abused, neglected, and subjected to abhorrent conditions and horrific methods of treatment.  The asylums were overcrowded and filthy, and that was only for those lucky enough to be put in a separate mental health institution.  Many mentally ill people were seen as criminals and housed in prisons” (Insane, 2014).

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When Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887) was twelve, she left her poor, Methodist family to live with her wealthy grandmother in Boston.  She became a part of a more liberal religion, called Brahmanism.  This change was pivotal for Dix.  “Both theology and class led people like Dix to express concern for the unfortunate” (Warder, 2011).  Dix became educated and she eventually became a teacher for girls and wrote a book, Moral Tales for Children.  She was also developing relationships with many of the elite men of Boston, who would later become her allies (Warder, 2011).  Eventually, Dix suffered first-hand from depression in the 1830s and lived in England for several years undergoing treatment (Warder, 2011).

When Dix returned to America, she soon became known as a social reformist and activist as she made a big impact on the profession of Social Work.  She became the voice for a myriad of “voiceless” people, who were living in subhuman conditions in mental institutions and asylums during the nineteenth century. Dix believed that individuals suffering from mental and emotional illnesses should not be housed in jails with felons.  They needed their own treatment (Warder, 2011).

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Try to imagine, if you will, that you are suffering from depression and your family admitted you to a mental asylum for treatment.  You and your fellow “inmates” are forced to live in subhuman conditions and are treated quite inhumanely.  You feel lonely and neglected, as you have been stripped of your clothing and dignity.  You sleep in an unheated, foul-smelling cellar.  Quite often you and your inmates are “chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience…” (Warder, 2011).