Emotionally Disturbed: A History of Caring for America’s Troubled Children

347 Pages·2019·1.565 MB·English

by  Deborah Blythe Doroshow

Emotionally Disturbed

Emotionally Disturbed
A History of Caring for America’s
Troubled Children
DEBORAH BLYTHE DOROSHOW
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2019 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the
University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2019
Printed in the United States of America
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 62143- 2 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 62157- 9 (e- book)
DOI: https:// doi .org/ 10 .7208/ chicago/ 9780226621579 .001 .0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Doroshow, Deborah Blythe, author.
Title: Emotionally disturbed : a history of caring for America’s troubled
children / Deborah Blythe Doroshow.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2019. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018042377 | ISBN 9780226621432 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780226621579 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Child psychopathology—United States. | Children—
Institutional care—United States
Classifi cation: LCC RJ501.A2 D676 2019 | DDC 362.20830973—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018042377
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1 992
( Permanence of Paper).
In memory of Louise Lorden, who taught me to play with feeling
and never  worried about a few wrong notes

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations / ix
INTRODUCTION / 1
ONE / O Pioneers! / 9
INTERLUDE: THE ROAD TO RESIDENTIAL / 35
TWO / Disturbed Children, Disturbing Children / 43
THREE / Playing by Ear / 67
INTERLUDE: THERAPEUTICS IN RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT / 91
FOUR / The Special Relationship / 99
FIVE / A New Home / 123
SIX / Building the Normal Child / 149
INTERLUDE: HOMEWARD BOUND / 175
SEVEN / The Breakdown of Emotional Disturbance / 183
EIGHT / Discarded Children: The Last Thirty Years
in Child  Mental Health / 209
Epilogue / 233
Acknowledgments / 239
Key to Archives and Manuscripts / 243
Notes / 245
Index / 325
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1.1. Boys at Wiltwyck School, 1960s / 31
Figure 4.1. Psychotherapy at Southard School, 1955 / 101
Figure 5.1. Boy’s bedroom at the University of Michigan Children’s Psychiatric
Hospital, 1950s / 134
Figure 5.2. Boy’s bedroom at Southard School, February 1955 / 135
Figure 5.3. Remodeled living room at the Southard School featuring patients’
artwork tacked to a wall, 1946 / 137
Figure 6.1. Tracking group therapy progress at Langley Porter, 1947 / 157
Figure 6.2. Finger painting at Southard School, 1940s / 163
Figure 6.3. Adolf Woltmann, Belle vue puppeteer, with two of his puppets, “Casper”
and “a savage from Africa,” 1935 / 164
Figure 6.4. Bellefaire children in the classroom, late 1950s / 169
Figure 6.5. Bellefaire children in the classroom, late 1950s / 169
Figure 7.1. Number of children at RTCs, 1962– 83 / 199
Figure 7.2. Number of RTCs, 1952– 84 / 200