Omsorg och Kontroll En handikapphistorisk studie 1750- 1930

Summary
Care and Control
A Study in Disability History 1750−1930
The aim of the present dissertation is to investigate dominant perceptions
about individuals with functional disorders or categorized
as disabled and the conditions under which they have lived
during three specific periods: the end of the eighteenth century and beginnings
of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I consider these periods
to be historical turning points in the perception and treatment of individuals
with functional disorders.
My source material consists mainly of articles published in the Transactions
of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, histories of the founding
of the Institute for the Blind and Deaf, and inspectors´ reports submitted
to the government between 1903 and 1930. Alternating between theoretical
concepts and the themes and elements of the source material, I have studied
the content of these texts and the attitudes they express.
In the present dissertation I begin by discussing and problematizing the
role of various actors and their involvement in the lives of primarily deaf
and blind individuals. I define these actors as ”significant voices”. At the
same time, individuals suffering from impaired vision or hearing are seen
as more or less active actors each with his or her own experiences and aspirations,
which did not always coincide with those of philanthropy or the
perceptions of others.
The activities of these various actors – scientists, politicians, entepreneurs,
philanthropists and the impaired – would be summarized under the
rubric ”the question of abnormality”, a comprehensive discourse embracing
a number of functional disorders and including actors from throughout
Scandinavia.
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