After a decade of Thatcherism, rising illegitimacy and the moral panic over child sexual abuse, the family is more of a political issue than ever. But is it 'the family' that is in crisis, or family ideology? In this revised edition of an important and controversial book, Diana Gittins adds to a broad range of historical, anthropological and feminist evidence, a new chapter on child sexual abuse.

Drawing on personal, historical, sociological, psychoanalytic, literary and artistic sources, this compelling book explores the tensions and contradictions implicit in notions of children and childhood. It examines how children can at once represent innocence, beauty and hope, while at the same time are neglected, disenfranchised and abused. Wide-ranging and provocative, this exploration of what 'the child' means, and has meant, to adults, will appeal to students and professionals across many disciplines, as well as to the interested general reader.

This fascinating study presents a unique history of psychiatry in the twentieth century. It brings together the memories and narratives of over sixty patients and workers who lived, or were employed, in Severalls Psychiatric Hospital, Essex, UK. Personal accounts are contextualised both in relation to wider developments and issues in twentieth-century mental health, and in relation to policies and changes in the hospital itself.
Organised around the theme of space and place, and drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative material, chapters deal with key areas such as gender divisions, power relations, patterns of admission and discharge, treatments, and the daily lives and routines of patients and nurses of both sexes.

This study presents a social history of psychiatry in the 20th century. It brings together the memories and narratives of over 60 patients and workers who lived, or were employed, in Severalls Psychiatric Hospital, Essex, England. Personal accounts are contextualized both in relation to wider developments and issues in 20th-century mental health and in relation to policies and changes in the hospital itself. Organized around the theme of space and place, and drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative material, chapters deal with key areas such as gender divisions, power relations, patterns of admission and discharge, treatments, and the daily lives and routines of patients and nurses of both sexes. "Madness in its Place" provides an unusual and accessible account of trends and changes in the history of psychiatry during the 20th century, while at the same time offering a narrative of the daily lives of those who worked and lived in a typical psychiatric hospital.