Decolonization of psychiatry in Jamaica : madnificent irations

This book traces the historical postcolonial journey of four generations of Jamaican psychiatrists challenging the European colonial ‘civilizing mission’ of psychiatric care. It details the process of deinstitutionizing patients with chronic mental illness using psychohistoriographic cultural therapy, by engaging them in creating sociodrama and poetry writing, not only to express and reverse the stigma contributing to their marginalized status, but also to reconnect them to a centuries-long history of oppression. The author thereby demonstrates that psychological decolonization requires a seminal understanding of the complex mental inter-relationship between slaves and slaveowners. Further, it is shown how the model analyzes the antipodal dialectic history of descendants of Africans enslaved in the New World by brutish British Imperialists suffering from the European psychosis of white supremacy. Drawing together a detailed description of the sociopoem Madnificent Irations, with an examination of Jamaica’s political and social history, and the author’s personal experience, this compelling work marks an important contribution to decolonial literature. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of postcolonial studies, critical race theory, the history of psychology and community psychology. Publisher’s Note Contents Chapter 1 Introduction Bibliography Chapter 2 The History of Madness in Jamaica 1494–1960 The Post-Emancipation Period: Circa 1834–1900 Toward a New Paradigm of the History of Madness The Later Colonial Period: Circa 1900–1960 Bibliography Chapter 3 The Challenge to the Mental Health Ideology of the Colonizer Bibliography Chapter 4 Madnificent Irations: What’s in a Name? Bibliography Chapter 5 Mobilizing Bellevue by Building the Garden Theatre Large Group Ethnohistorical Meetings The Madness/Badness Violence Dialectic The Immediate Effects of the Ethnohistorical Meetings The Cultural Therapy Centre Running a Boat The Cultural Therapy Program The Morning Session The Afternoon Session The Irations Band The Singers and Dancers Evening Entertainment at the Garden Theatre Bibliography Chapter 6 Psychohistoriographic Cultural Therapy: The Technique Stage 1: The Ethnohistorical Meetings and the Psychohistoriographic Analysis Creating the Psychohistoriogram Establishing the Graphic Matrices Establishing Historical Material Historical Anecdotes About the Asylum The Musical Cultural Timeline Stage 2: The Creation of the Script Culturing and Cognitive Catalysis The Processes Involved in Patient Transformation Stage 3: Staging and Production The Music of Madnificent Irations Bibliography Chapter 7 The Impact of Madnificent Irations Stages 4 and 5: Performance and Evaluation Bibliography Chapter 8 Political Sequelae: Destruction of the Garden Theatre Bibliography Chapter 9 Poetic Poiesis and Cultural Therapy The Poiesis of Psychohistoriographic Cultural Therapy Operational Components of PCT Rastafari ‘Word Sound and Power’ and PCT Bibliography Chapter 10 Cultural Therapy and Social Engineering The Need for Social Re-engineering in Jamaica Media Representation Research and Psychological Deinstitutionalization Taking Community Engagement Cultural Therapy to Kingston’s Inner City The Social Re-engineering Coda Bibliography Appendix Index