Psychiatry and Society in the GDR in the Sixties

Fanny Le Bonhomme
Completed associated PhD project

The focus of this research study is on the relationship between psychiatry and society in the GDR in the 1960s. It should be demonstrated to what extent the institution of psychiatry – and the sources produced by it – can reflect the mechanisms, tensions and contradictions in East German society. In the framework of this research project, psychiatry will not be regarded as an ‘outdoor space’ of society but more as a component part of that which constitutes a society. It is a micro-historical study that draws attention to the patients – viewed as social actors – their experiences and their social practices.

The main sources of this research study are the medical files of the Psychiatric and Neurological Clinic of the Charité (East Berlin) during the period from 1960 to 1989. In the context of the study, the focus will be on the relationship between the individual and the political sphere in the context of the ‘socialist society’ of the GDR in the 1960s. Thus, one of the research hypotheses of this study is based on the conviction that the psychiatric medical files can provide insights into the specific tensions that permeated East German society, into the modality of SED rule and into everyday life under Communism.

Forschung

Psychiatry and Society in the GDR in the Sixties

Fanny Le Bonhomme
Completed associated PhD project

The focus of this research study is on the relationship between psychiatry and society in the GDR in the 1960s. It should be demonstrated to what extent the institution of psychiatry – and the sources produced by it – can reflect the mechanisms, tensions and contradictions in East German society. In the framework of this research project, psychiatry will not be regarded as an ‘outdoor space’ of society but more as a component part of that which constitutes a society. It is a micro-historical study that draws attention to the patients – viewed as social actors – their experiences and their social practices.

The main sources of this research study are the medical files of the Psychiatric and Neurological Clinic of the Charité (East Berlin) during the period from 1960 to 1989. In the context of the study, the focus will be on the relationship between the individual and the political sphere in the context of the ‘socialist society’ of the GDR in the 1960s. Thus, one of the research hypotheses of this study is based on the conviction that the psychiatric medical files can provide insights into the specific tensions that permeated East German society, into the modality of SED rule and into everyday life under Communism.

Forschung