Divine Service, Music, Sport, and Recreation as Medicinal in Australian Asylums 1860s-1945

Abstract

Australian asylum records (circa 1860 to circa 1945) demonstrate that medical staff went to great lengths to provide recreation to suitable patients. This article examines how the demarcation of Australian institutional spaces along gender divisions was also mirrored by the gender-specific recreational activities provided in purpose-built facilities. Using Australian examples I demonstrate how the main forms of recreation-that is divine service, music and dance, and sport-were justified to governments on medical grounds. Some designated recreational spaces even offered select female and male patients the opportunity to mix under medical supervision. Recreation was therapeutic because of its psychological, physical, social, and moral benefits, and government authorities funded the construction of costly chapels, recreation halls, and sports grounds expressly for this medical purpose.