HEALTHY AVENUES OF THE MIND - PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY BUILDING AND THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION DURING THE ERA OF MORAL TREATMENT

This article delineates the main psychological interventions used by A merican asylum superintendents practicing moral treatment between 1815 and 1875, Further, it explores the impact of Protestant religious ide as on specific aspects of moral treatment's theory and practice. Metho d: Asylum annual reports written by superintendents (physicians dedica ted to the treatment of the mentally ill) were studied along with volu mes of the American Journal of Insanity from its premier issue in 1844 through the 1890s, The writings of two laymen, Thomas Gallaudet and H orace Mann, both committed advocates of moral treatment, were also exa mined. Results: The superintendents espoused complex theories about in dividual psychology and the nature of the self based on their observat ions. Protestant religious thought was a major influence, helping to c atalyze original psychological propositions. Interesting resonances ca n be found between the superintendents' concept of a central agency, a governing ''l'' accounting for individual behavior, and ego psycholog ists' concepts of the organizing functions of the ego. Conclusions: Mo ral treatment did not produce a comprehensive psychotherapeutic system . Nonetheless, the superintendents voiced surprisingly modern psychoth erapeutic insights, Religious worship as well as religious notions abo ut the inviolability of the soul greatly influenced their views of pat ients, Rather than being an impediment to formulating psychological id eas, religious concepts proved to be a rich framework for evolving the ories about aspects of patients' internal psychological functioning.