Explore a groundbreaking early 20th‑century look at how communities detect and care for mental deficiency, insanity, and alcoholism.
This archival study examines Springfield’s response to mental health challenges, with practical insights into education, law, and social services.
This edition compiles the Springfield Survey’s findings, including how schools identify and serve students with mental deficiencies, how courts and institutions handle commitment and care, and how community programs coordinate care across agencies. It presents a grounded, historical view of the era’s mental hygiene movement and its effort to build more humane, effective public policy.
- Understand the definitions and classifications used for mental deficiency in the period.
- See how educators, physicians, and officials collaborated to detect and support affected children.
- Learn about the roles of hospitals, jails, almshouses, and social agencies in care and treatment.
- Get a window into the social challenges and proposed improvements from a national mental hygiene perspective.
Ideal for readers of historical social work, public health, and early 20th‑century reform movements who want a concrete look at how communities addressed complex mental health issues.