Abstract
The history of the care and treatment of individuals with disabilities has had cycles of hope and despair. Psychiatry has been a major influence in this history. At times, new light has been shed on human vulnerabilities and ways to bring human fulfillment, joy, and interdependence. At other times, oppression and dehumanization has ruled. In the hopeful cycles, there has been probing into the meaning and purpose of life, the hunger for feelings of companionship, the impact of aloneness and emotional loss, and the dynamic role of the family and community in the lives of vulnerable individuals. In the darker cycles, individuals with disabilities passed through periods wherein isolation, segregation, and dehumanization vanquished integration, respect, and dignity. This chapter reviews the history of psychiatry from the time of Itard's work with Victor, The Wild Boy of Aveyron, to the present day. It explains the underlying value systems that were prevalent in various periods and also the major clinical and programmatic structures that resulted from such belief systems.
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