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| 4:58:35 PM - Mon, Aug 9th 2010 |
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I'd like to bring this topic up for discussion:
What role did "Hospitals for the Criminally Insane" play in the history of mental healthcare, how many were there, and what states did they exist in.
State hospitals like Matteawan State Hospital (in Fishkill, NY) and I believe Willard State Hospital were now your average state hospitals. They were designated for the criminally insane, or people deemed insane that were too dangerous for regular state hospitals or prisons. They also had the distinction of basically being dictatorships of the superintendants. Any patient's stay could be cut short or extended indefinitely on the whim of the superintendant, who had complete control over the population.
I'm just starting to really research these institution's which, as far as I know, are somewhat of an anomaly in the history of mental healthcare.
Any comments or discussion would be great!
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M-Explorer Forum:Admin, Forum:Mod, bureaucrat, checkuser, sysop
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| 5:07:05 PM - Mon, Aug 9th 2010 |
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Well, I do know Willard did not start out as a hospital for the criminally insane, but was a regular state hospital that way later in life (I.E. in the 90's) was re purposed as a drug rehab facility.
Other then that I'm not sure about the history behind Matteawan, but you might also want to look into Dannemora State Hospital and Bridgewater State Hospital as they both were hospitals for the criminally insane.
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Thomasp94 Forum:Admin, Forum:Mod, bureaucrat, checkuser, sysop
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| 11:23:30 AM - Tue, Aug 10th 2010 |
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| Pennsylvania had just one state hospital designated for criminal insane, that I know of, and that was Farview State Hospital. I have not really done much research on this particular hospital yet, but I do know that pretty much all the original buildings are still there and it's still a state correctional facility. It houses mentally disabled male and minimum-security inmates. It's run by the Dept. of Corrections.
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Edited On 11:28:10 AM - Tue, Aug 10th 2010 by Thomasp94
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| 1:44:27 PM - Tue, Aug 10th 2010 |
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| Yeah, a lot of these places ended up going to the Dept. of Corrections instead of DHHR type agencies. The main building at Matteawan is now abandoned but is still on the property of the prison and sits behind razor wire and fences.
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| 2:41:30 AM - Wed, Aug 11th 2010 |
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| Most states usually had a separate building/ward for the "criminally insane". I think it was one of those things that department of corrections didn't want to deal with so the state hospitals got stuck with the responsibility. Once they started closing state hospitals, seems more then a few ended up being re-used as prisons. Although most of the people that were released when state hospitals closed sadly ended up in prison anyway. Lima State Hospital is another example to add to the list of institutions that opened originally as a facility for "criminally insane". Today most state hospitals don't house as many criminals, I know ESH in Lexington has a high-security ward for people undergoing pre-trial evaluations.
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| 1:49:20 PM - Wed, Aug 11th 2010 |
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Quote:Squad546 Wed 11th 2:41 am... has a high-security ward for people undergoing pre-trial evaluations.
A lot of times you hear them refered to as "court orders" or "forensics".
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| 1:55:23 PM - Wed, Aug 11th 2010 |
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Here is the Forensics Ward at Weston:
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Just Got Here
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| 4:29:52 AM - Wed, Sep 1st 2010 |
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Quote:Thomasp94 Tue 10th 11:23 amPennsylvania had just one state hospital designated for criminal insane, that I know of, and that was Farview State Hospital. I have not really done much research on this particular hospital yet, but I do know that pretty much all the original buildings are still there and it's still a state correctional facility. It houses mentally disabled male and minimum-security inmates. It's run by the Dept. of Corrections.
Norristown State Hospital in Norristown, PA currently has a (very active) forensics unit. It's been around for... quite some time. I'm not sure of the exact year it was opened, but I know that they have no plans of closing Norristown anytime soon because of the forensics unit.
We had one patient at Allentown State Hospital in the mid 2000s that ended up being sent to Norristown because he tried to set M4 on fire :-/
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Thomasp94 Forum:Admin, Forum:Mod, bureaucrat, checkuser, sysop
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| 12:11:16 PM - Fri, Sep 3rd 2010 |
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Thanks for the info and pics of Norristown guys!
BTW, on the note of criminally insane hospitals... I just got a copy of Cold Storage in the mail on Tuesday, only paid $1 for it on eBay.
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| 1:05:19 AM - Thu, Nov 10th 2011 |
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Hospital for the insane
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| My grandmother was in a hospital for the crimnally insane around 1940. This was kept a secret until recently recently. I will have to order someones birth certificate to find out where the hospital is located. Does anyone think if I might be able to find out why she was in the hospital?
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| 3:33:11 PM - Thu, Nov 10th 2011 |
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This is a forum section called "Former Staff and Patients" here you will find a wealth of information regarding what you can find and how to go about it. It usually depends a lot on what state you're dealing with.
Usually there is a LOT of red tape and if you are lucky enough to get something it might not be much and it might not make much sense to you. Either way good luck and please keep us posted if you don't mind.
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| 4:17:19 AM - Sat, Nov 12th 2011 |
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Quote: Wed 9th 7:05 pmMy grandmother was in a hospital for the crimnally insane around 1940. This was kept a secret until recently recently. I will have to order someones birth certificate to find out where the hospital is located. Does anyone think if I might be able to find out why she was in the hospital?
A death certificate might tell you part of the reason why, but you would likely want the more detailed records from the hospital. As WSH said, there's usually a lot of red tape involved, some states are easier then others though. Try the state archives for the state the institution is in and go from there.
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| 9:15:50 AM - Wed, Nov 16th 2011 |
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| I've noticed a lot of the hospitals for the criminally insane, have become present day prisons.
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| 4:12:43 PM - Wed, Nov 16th 2011 |
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Quote:Porcelain Doll2 Wed 16th 9:15 amI've noticed a lot of the hospitals for the criminally insane, have become present day prisons.
Very true. I'm assuming at some point the "criminal" aspect of them meant that they ended up being put under the umbrella of the Dept. of Corrections in most states as opposed to Dept. or Mental Health or Health and Human Resources that most state hospitals fell under.
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Forum Regular
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| 4:14:02 PM - Wed, Nov 16th 2011 |
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| That last post was me! I must have had some of Evilavatar's luck rub off on me!
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