Using rare interviews with former inmates and workers, institutional documentation, and governmental archives, Claudia Malacrida illuminates the dark history of the treatment of “mentally defective” children and adults at the Michener Centre in Red Deer, Alberta.

Claudia Malacrida is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge.

‘Malacrida draws from a vast amount of documentation. Her book is packed with statistics and academic writing but leavened with direct testimony from inmates and staff. …valuable for anyone with an interest in this dark period of institutional history.’

Deborah Stienstra, Professor in Disability Studies, University of Manitoba:
“This is an important and timely review of a place and time in Canada’s history from which we must learn much. The stories told in A Special Hell are essential to understanding what happened at the Michener Centre and why, so as not to repeat that history.”

James Trent, Professor, Department of Social Work, Gordon College:
“Claudia Malacrida gives the reader a comprehensive, probing, and thorough history of the inner life of a public residential institution for people with intellectual disabilities. She has woven a story from the perspectives of inmates, primary care workers, and townspeople, along with institutional documentation, governmental reports, and the stories from inmates’ relatives. This is an exceptional work, and one that gives voice to those participants whose voices are usually silent or silenced.”

Dick Sobsey, Professor Emeritus, Department of Educational Psychology and John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, University of Alberta:
“A Special Hell is an interesting and well-crafted book that adds to our knowledge and understanding of the institutional care of people with developmental disabilities in Canada. Malacrida does an excellent job of combining scholarly analysis with interviewees telling their own stories.”