International records / Internet Archive

Imperial bedlam : institutions of madness in colonial southwest Nigeria

1 online resource (xi, 169 pages) This historical study examines primary source material, writings by African patients in these institutions and the reports of officials, doctors, and others, to discuss the meaning of madness in Nigeria, the development of colonial psychiatry, and the connections between them. This book follows the development of insane asylums from their origins in the nineteenth century to innovative treatment programs developed by Nigerian physicians during the transition to independence. Special attention is given to the writings of those considered "lunatics," a perspecti…