Dorethea Dix Research

Jessica Rumore

Mr.Dutcher

English 3 honors

12 May 2015

Dorothea Dix

Up until around 1841 the mentally ill were placed in prisons along with murderers.  In this time period not many people were aware of the psychological disorders.  They often thought the mentally ill belonged in prison. In these prisons the mentally ill were subject to harsh treatment, extreme weather conditions without proper clothing, and they were experimented on. Not many people believed in psychological disorders. The few people who did had a hard time answering the question “why do these people have these disorders?”  As many tried to find the answer to this question, not many people went out of their way to help the mentally ill out of prisons.  Dorothea Dix is one of the few who did. Dorothea Dix went to many state legislators to get rights for the mentally ill to be freed from prisons and put in mental institutions.

Dorothea Dix did not agree with putting the mentally ill in prisons. As she had depression herself she felt even more motivation to work for a law that would free them. Her first exposure to the problem came in 1841 when she taught a prison. She tried to press charges for treating the inmates so badly. The charges were not successful because she was a woman. However they improved the conditions. She conducted many surveys at different prisons. Then she wrote her findings so that it would be brought to the public’s attention. She wrote about the terrible conditions they were put through. “She began by surveying every jail, poorhouse, and house of correction in Massachusetts. Dix compiled a lengthy and graphic report on conditions for the insane”(Thomas Brown). Many newspapers published her research.

As her movement began to take off, she started going to many states to talk in courts on behalf of the mentally ill. Many courts would refuse to listen to her due to the fact she was a women. So she got an influential group of males to talk for her. Her first success with her male group of speaker’s came in Massachusetts. This gave her more credibility. She began making memorials to inform and shame other legislator to make mental institutions. “In 1843 there were 13 mental hospitals in the country; by 1880 there were 123, and Dorothea Dix played a direct role in founding 32 of them.” (Thomas Brown). This was possible as she was born into a wealthy family. “Dix’s record of publications and the social circles accessible to her through her grandmother’s significant wealth allowed her to mix with some of the brightest and most influential thinkers of her time.”(Manon Perry). This quote shows she had easy contacts and money to found these institutions.