Madness in early twentieth-century New Zealand: the patient case records of Porirua Hospital, 1909-1915

Abstract

Patient case records are a way of exploring how perceptions of madness were shaped by gender and social norms. This study utilised the early-twentieth century patient case records of Porirua Hospital, which are now objects in the Porirua Hospital Museum. The patient case records demonstrate some of the ways power operated at Porirua Hospital. Most importantly they show how madness was perceived both by lay people outside of the asylum and by alienists at Porirua Hospital. The explanations and descriptions provided by family doctors, the patients' family and friends and psychiatrists reveal how madness was constructed. It highlighted the gendered lives of New Zealanders in the early twentieth-century and how gender impacted on constructions of madness. Despite the limitations of using patient case records as historical sources, they are a valuable tool in understanding the history of madness.