Drapetomania
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Drapetomania was a psychiatric diagnosis proposed in 1851 by physician Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright, of the Louisiania Medical Association, to explain the tendency of black slaves to flee captivity.
As such, Drapetomania is an important historical example of scientific racism. The term derives from the Greek δραπετης (drapetes, "a runaway [slave]") + μανια (mania, "madness, frenzy").
The diagnosis appeared in a paper published in the New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal, where Dr. Cartwright argued that the tendency of slaves to run away from their captors was in fact a treatable medical disorder. His feeling was that with "proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented." Cartwright proposed whipping as the most effective treatment of this disorder. Amputation of the toes was also prescribed.[1]
Cartwright also described another disorder, "Dysaethesia Aethiopica", to explain the apparent lack of motivation exhibited by many slaves, which he also claimed could be cured by whipping.
[edit] References
- Samuel A. Cartwright, "Report on the diseases and physical peculiarities of the Negro race", The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal 1851:691-715 (May)
- — reprinted in Concepts of Health and Disease in Medicine: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Boston, Addison-Wesley, 1980 (Arthur Caplan, H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., and James McCartney, editors).
- — reprinted in Health, Disease, and Illness: Concepts in Medicine edited by Arthur L Caplan, James J McCartney, Dominic A Sisti. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. 2004. ISBN 1-58901-014-0
[edit] See also
- Anti-psychiatry
- Pre-Adamite
- Scientific racism
- White man's burden
- Sluggishly progressing schizophrenia
- Race and intelligence
[edit] External links
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