Binding: Paperback
Description: Madness is something that frightens and fascinates us all. It is a word with which we are universally familiar and a condition that haunts the human imagination. Through the centuries in poetry and in prose in drama and in the visual arts its depredations are on display for all to see. A whole industry has grown up devoted to its management and suppression. Madness profoundly disturbs our common sense assumptions; threatens the social order both symbolically and practically; creates almost unbearable disruptions in the texture of daily living; and turns our experience and our expectations upside down. Lunacy insanity psychosis mental illness - whatever term we prefer its referents are disturbances of reason the passions and human action that frighten create chaos and yet sometimes amuse; that mark a gulf between the common sense reality most of us embrace and the discordant version some humans appear to experience. Social responses to madness our interpretations of what madness is and our notions of what is to be done about it have varied remarkably over the centuries. In this Very Short Introduction Andrew Scull provides a provocative and entertaining examination of the social cultural medical and artistic responses to mental disturbance across more than two millennia concluding with some observations on the contemporary accounts of mental illness. About THE Series: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket - sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Title: Madness: A Very Short Introduction
Author(s): Scull Andrew (Distinguished Professor Of Sociology And Science Studies)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Barcode: 9780199608034
Pages: 160 Pages, 18 Black And White Halftones
Publication Date: 9/2/2011
Series: Very Short Introductions
Category: Abnormal Psychology