Report of the Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders.

  • Great Britain. Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders.
Date:
1975
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Report of the Committee on Mentally Abnormal Offenders. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    31/352 (page 13)
    CHAPTER 2 EXISTING FACILITIES I. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION (1) Origins and early development 2.1 Before we discuss the problems arising in the treatment of mentally dis- ordered offenders, we propose briefly to describe the historical origins, range and organisation of the existing facilities for the treatment of mentally disordered people. Legislation for the provision by public authorities of care and treatment specifically for the mentally disordered, and for special arrange- ments for mentally disordered offenders, dates from the early 19th century. Services for the mentally ill (then called ‘“‘lunatics’’) and the severely subnormal (then called “‘idiots’’) developed during that century throughout the country, and provision for “‘criminal lunatics’ developed under separate legislation. These services were largely institutional and custodial. Criminal lunatics were received both into local lunatic asylums and into the special criminal Junatic asylum (Broadmoor) which opened in 1863. 2.2 Towards the end of the century the social problems and need for care presented by those with less pronounced mental subnormality (then called ‘‘feeble-minded’’) received increasing attention, and following the Report of the Royal Commission on the Careand Control of the Feeble-minded 1904-1908 the Mental Deficiency Act 1913 was passed. This required local authorities to provide both institutions and supervision in the community for the feeble- minded and the severely subnormal, including those committed to care under this Act by the courts after commission of an offence. State institutions for defectives of dangerous and violent propensities, whether offenders or not, were to be managed by the Board of Control; two such institutions (Rampton and Moss Side) were provided in the 1920s and 1930s. 2.3 The administration of the mental health services was fundamentally changed with the introduction of the National Health Service. All local authority institutions (and many private ones) for the mentally ill and mentally defective were transferred to the new hospital authorities... Community services for defectives not in institutions (who have always outnumbered those in institutions) remained the responsibility of the health departments of the local authorities. At the same time responsibility for the administration of the only criminal lunatic asylum (Broadmoor) was transferred, under the Criminal Justice Act 1948, from the Home Office to the Ministry of Health, its management being placed in the hands of the Board of Control, who 1 Under the National Health Service Act 1946 the Minister of Health became responsible for providing hospital and specialist services. Regional Hospital Boards, Hospital Manage- ment Committees and (for teaching hospitals) Boards of Governors were given responsibility under the Act for the administration of the hospitals. In November 1968 the functions of the Minister of Health were transferred to the Secretary of State for Social Services and in April 1969 his functions in respect of Wales were transferred to the Secretary of State for Wales. Under the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 the functions of Hospital Boards and Management Committees, together with other health functions, passed, with effect from 1 April 1974, to new Regional Health Authorities (except in Wales) and Area Health Authorities (including Area Health Authorities (Teaching)). Like the former Boards and Committees, these Authorities carry out their functions subject to regulations, directions and general guidance from the Secretaries of State.