So Far Disordered in Mind: Insanity in California, 1870-1930

Abstract

This book is composed of 12 tables, a preface, and 7 chapters: “Introduction: The Social History of Insanity,” “Insanity in the Promised State: Ideologies and Institutions, 1870-1930,” “From ‘Railroading’ to ‘Therapy’ : The Growth of Medical Control Over Commitment in California, 18701930,” “Routes to the Asylum: Commitments in San Francisco, 1900-1930,” “The San Francisco Insane, 1906-1929: A Social Portrait,’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘So Far Disordered in Mind’ : The Intolerable Deviance of the Insane,” and ‘ ‘ ‘Normal’ Mental Illness and the ‘Defective’ Insane. ‘ ‘ There are also an appendix showing the certificate of medical examiners of San Francisco Superior Court, 19061929, a note on sources, and a careful index. This book is a reworked doctoral thesis titled “Madness in Urban America: A Social and Cultural Study of Cornmitments for Insanity in San Francisco, 1906-1929,” written at Stanford in 1975. According to the dust jacket,