Moral Panics, Mental Illness Stigma, and the Deinstitutionalization Movement in American Popular Culture

Cooke, Anthony Carlton

This book argues that cultural fascination with the “madperson” stems from the contemporaneous increase of chronically mentally ill persons in public life due to deinstitutionalization—the mental health reform movement leading to the closure of many asylums in favor of outpatient care. Anthony Carlton Cooke explores the reciprocal spheres of influence between deinstitutionalization, representations of the “murderous, mentally ill individual” in the horror, crime, and thriller genres, and the growth of public associations of violent crime with mental illness.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2018-08-23

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9783319838724

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47979-8

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 191