Dix & Foucault

Miss D.L. Dix, Washington, D.C. Washington D.C. United States, 1865. Aug. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019630777/.

Through all of the research I have done as a student here, it has always been focused on women, and I didn’t want this class to be any exception. I had heard her name in passing before, but this past week I did a deep dive into who Dorothea “Dragon” Dix was and what she worked for during her lifetime.

As a reformer focused on improving the lives of mentally ill patients, she founded many of the nations asylums as a space for patients to receive the care that they needed to get better. When researching, I found an interesting article that talked about Dix’s disdain for the moral therapy/treatment in the United States, while Foucault talks about its gaining popularity in Europe at the same time.

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