Chapter 7. From criminal lunacy to mental disorder
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Minna Nevala
Abstract
This chapter investigates discourses of mental health in the British parliament over two centuries (1800–2020). A pattern-driven approach is used to explore terminology related to mentally ill people, mental institutions, and mental health in general. The study focuses on lexical trends in parliamentary discourse, the extent to which mental health discourse was discussed in general, and the way in which the lexis of modern mental health care has developed. The results show that the major shifts in the entire lexical field have happened in specific time periods, the turning points being in the 1840s, 1930s and 1950s. The general attitude also seems to have shifted, and the data show an increasing concern for legally protecting people with mental illness.
Abstract
This chapter investigates discourses of mental health in the British parliament over two centuries (1800–2020). A pattern-driven approach is used to explore terminology related to mentally ill people, mental institutions, and mental health in general. The study focuses on lexical trends in parliamentary discourse, the extent to which mental health discourse was discussed in general, and the way in which the lexis of modern mental health care has developed. The results show that the major shifts in the entire lexical field have happened in specific time periods, the turning points being in the 1840s, 1930s and 1950s. The general attitude also seems to have shifted, and the data show an increasing concern for legally protecting people with mental illness.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Perspectives on parliamentary discourse 1
- Chapter 1. Speech in the British Hansard 17
- Chapter 2. Salient differences between Australian oral parliamentary discourse and its official written records 54
- Chapter 3. Hansard at Huddersfield 89
- Chapter 4. Empire, migration and race in the British parliament (1803–2005) 118
- Chapter 5. Leaving the EU out of the ingroup 142
- Chapter 6. From masters and servants to employers and employees 166
- Chapter 7. From criminal lunacy to mental disorder 194
- Chapter 8. “The job requires considerable expertise” 227
- Chapter 9. Processing and prescriptivism as constraints on language variation and change 250
- Chapter 10. Language variation in parliamentary speech in Suriname 277
- Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic and pragmatic variation in conditional constructions in English and Spanish parliamentary discourse 308
- Chapter 12. Colloquialisation, compression and democratisation in British parliamentary debates 336
- Index 373
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Perspectives on parliamentary discourse 1
- Chapter 1. Speech in the British Hansard 17
- Chapter 2. Salient differences between Australian oral parliamentary discourse and its official written records 54
- Chapter 3. Hansard at Huddersfield 89
- Chapter 4. Empire, migration and race in the British parliament (1803–2005) 118
- Chapter 5. Leaving the EU out of the ingroup 142
- Chapter 6. From masters and servants to employers and employees 166
- Chapter 7. From criminal lunacy to mental disorder 194
- Chapter 8. “The job requires considerable expertise” 227
- Chapter 9. Processing and prescriptivism as constraints on language variation and change 250
- Chapter 10. Language variation in parliamentary speech in Suriname 277
- Chapter 11. Morphosyntactic and pragmatic variation in conditional constructions in English and Spanish parliamentary discourse 308
- Chapter 12. Colloquialisation, compression and democratisation in British parliamentary debates 336
- Index 373
