This paper attempts to describe the social context of the mid-nineteenth century
American mental asylum movement from the perspective of ideologies that then
prevailed. Enthusiasm for evangelically-inspired reforms and, in particular, for the
pietistic doctrine of the perfectibility of man, fostered optimism about the curability
of insanity through moral treatment. As such enthusiasm waned, so did the 'cult of
curability' of insanity and the use of moral treatment.
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