Hidden from history? The psychiatric treatment of lesbians and bisexual women
Bottom-up archival scoping study to identify and explore the extent and types of treatment given to lesbians and bisexual women in the UK mental health system from 1952 until 1990.
Project goals:
- Provide a preliminary analysis of the extent and types of treatment received by lesbian, bisexual and gender non-conforming women in the UK mental health system.
- Complement recent hidden histories of the psychiatric treatment of gay, bisexual and non-gender conforming men.
- Include the experiences of lesbian, bisexual and gender-non conforming women in psychiatric survivor history.
Methods
- Scoping and researching relevant LGBT, women's and mental health archives;
- Identifying relevant LGBT and relevant mental health testimonies, memoirs and autobiographical material;
- Developing partnerships with older LGBT and mental health service user organisations to collaborate in further research.
Project Lead
Professor Helen Spandler
Collaborators and Partners
Dr. Sarah Carr
Public Outputs
All our public outputs are open access.
Spandler, H, & Carr, S. (2022). Lesbian and bisexual women's experiences of aversion therapy in England. History of the Human Sciences
Spandler, H. (2020) ‘The shocking ‘treatment’ to make lesbians straight’. Welcome Collection Stories.
Spandler, H, Carr, S. (2020) 'A history of lesbian politics and the psy professions'. Feminism and Psychology
Research Grouping
Research Theme/Institute/Centre
Expertise and Subject area
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Social Work and Social Policy
- School of Social Work, Care and Community
Funders
Wellcome Trust: Seed Award in Humanities and Social Science (funder)
Timeline
2017-2018
Social Media
Twitter: @hspandler | @SchrebersSister