Author: Van Walsum, Kimberly L.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 23(3), Fall 2004, pp. 219-233

Abstract:

Throughout history, the symptoms of insanity have elicited responses of rejection, fear, hostility, and often community exclusion or abuse (Jones, 1983), responses that can be captured by the identifier lesfoux (the crazy ones). However, history also provides some examples of communities and individuals who responded to the insanity of others in a very different manner, identifying the insane symbolically or directly, in a connected manner, as nos malades (our ill ones). This article focuses on three historical examples in which Christian, specifically Catholic, influences shaped the care of the insane in their time. The three examples are drawn from the histories of France and Belgium prior to the 20th Century. They are: the Gheel Colony for the Insane founded around the cult of Saint Dymphna, the work of the Brothers of Saint John of God at Charenton in Paris, and the hospice-based care of Philippe Pine! and Jean Baptiste Pussin at the Bicêtre and Salpêtrière hospitals in Paris. Each example in its own way involved Christian institutions or principles transforming methods of caring for the insane. The care provided by the C heel Colony, the Brothers of Saint John of God, and Philippe Pinel each contrasted with the prevailing methods of care for the insane in their time. Each of the examples discussed here exemplified a response that may reflect roots in Christian institutions and principles that emphasized receiving others as one would receive Christ. Some thoughts are explored on how each of these three examples-with their associated Christian principles and rituals-influenced care for the insane at their particular historical juncture. When relevant, the article explores why the innovations in care demonstrated in these examples ran counter to the prevailing models of care for the insane in their day.