A history of psychiatric institutionalisation and community care in Australia, 1830s-1990s

澳大利亚目前正在就关闭精神病院和照顾社区精神病患者的政策进行激烈的辩论。尽管医生、政治家和记者都为这场辩论做出了贡献，他们经常诉诸历史来支持自己的论点，但历史学家本身却相对没有什么可说的。一个真正的国家精神卫生保健的历史根本不存在。这项研究提供了全面的历史，相信在这样一个重要的健康领域的政策制定不能有效地进行，没有一个明智的理解过去150年的成功和失败。

A vigorous debate is underway in Australia currently over the policy of closing mental institutions and caring for the mentally ill in the community. Whereas doctors, politicians and journalists have contributed to this debate, regularly resorting to history to bolster their arguments, historians themselves have had relatively little to say. A genuinely national history of mental health care simply does not exist. This study provides that comprehensive history, in the belief that policy making in such a vital area of health cannot be undertaken effectively without an informed understanding of the successes and failures of the last 150 years.