Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/61338
Title: The rights of the mental patient
Authors: Attard, Pierre
Keywords: Mental health laws -- Malta
Mental health laws -- England
Mentally ill -- Civil rights -- Malta
Issue Date: 1981
Citation: Attard, P. (1981). The rights of the mental patient (Master’s dissertation).
Abstract: It is known that in fifteenth century England 'lunaticks' were housed in Bethlem Hospital popularly known as Bedlam. Their lot was severe. They were chained, manacled, placed in stocks, whipped and beaten and were often held up as objects of public sport and ridicule. Until 1770, idle and curious visitors were allowed to enter Bethlem at a fee of a penny or two pence a time, in order to watch the antics of the inmates. "Will you allow me to open the pack and spread out some of my attractive wares." We can safely and comfortably say that we have come a long way and that today such treatment is unheard of. However; the question is where are we today? What status and position does the mental patient have in our society? What are his rights and what are the state's and the individuals' duties and responsibilities towards him? The answers to these questions have necessarily varied from era to era, from society to society. It is important to recognise that the way in which the mentally disordered or subnormal are defined and cared for is primarily a social response to a very basic set of human problems.
Description: LL.D.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/61338
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacLaw - 1958-2009

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