[The "case Hägi" at the Burghölzli in Zurich: the reaction of psychiatry and the authorities to criticism concerning state-run asylums].

Abstract

In 1894 Gottlieb Hägi, a former guard at the mental institution Burghölzli in Zurich, published a brochure in which he heavily critizised the conditions in the asylum, its management, the board of supervision and the responsible authorities. This report attracted great public notice and led to an extended investigation. With the example of the "case Hägi", the present work analyzes the position of critics and defendors of mental institutions and studies the roles played by the government and the authorities in this area of conflict. Beyond this particular debate, the reaction of government and authorities at critics of the psychiatry of mental institutions after the "case Hägi" is investigated by an analysis of the complaints procedures against the psychiatric institutions of the canton Zurich which were initiated between 1870 and 1970. It is concluded that in complaint procedures a tight connection existed between authorities and psychiatry. In case of conflicts, the mental institutions could count on the support of the government and this played an important role for legitimating psychiatry.