3 Labour colonies and public health
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John Field
Abstract
The physical deterioration debate, as well as wider concerns over the poor law’s failure to deal with the sick and infirm, led a number of public bodies to explore the idea of the labour colony as a therapeutic community. The value of the labour colony lay in its combination of physical isolation with ready access to fresh air and plentiful work. As well as being therapeutic, work ensured that the ‘clients’ made an economic contribution to their own upkeep, while isolation served the eugenic purpose of inhibiting breeding. Labour colonies were developed for alcoholics (particularly women alcoholics), epileptics, tuberculosis sufferers, and the ‘feeble-minded’. As a consequence, they became both centres of treatment and research, facilitating the development of expertise among both professionals and specialist volunteers.
Abstract
The physical deterioration debate, as well as wider concerns over the poor law’s failure to deal with the sick and infirm, led a number of public bodies to explore the idea of the labour colony as a therapeutic community. The value of the labour colony lay in its combination of physical isolation with ready access to fresh air and plentiful work. As well as being therapeutic, work ensured that the ‘clients’ made an economic contribution to their own upkeep, while isolation served the eugenic purpose of inhibiting breeding. Labour colonies were developed for alcoholics (particularly women alcoholics), epileptics, tuberculosis sufferers, and the ‘feeble-minded’. As a consequence, they became both centres of treatment and research, facilitating the development of expertise among both professionals and specialist volunteers.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Abbreviations ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Colonising the land 9
- 2 ‘We work amongst the lowest stratum of life’ 32
- 3 Labour colonies and public health 57
- 4 Alternative living in the English countryside 77
- 5 ‘The landless man to the manless land’ 99
- 6 Transference and the Labour government, 1929–31 125
- 7 Incremental growth 148
- 8 ‘Light green uniforms, white aprons and caps’ 173
- 9 Camps as social service and social movement 195
- 10 ‘Down with the concentration camps!’ 222
- Conclusion – Understanding work camps 245
- Select bibliography 264
- Index 271
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Abbreviations ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Colonising the land 9
- 2 ‘We work amongst the lowest stratum of life’ 32
- 3 Labour colonies and public health 57
- 4 Alternative living in the English countryside 77
- 5 ‘The landless man to the manless land’ 99
- 6 Transference and the Labour government, 1929–31 125
- 7 Incremental growth 148
- 8 ‘Light green uniforms, white aprons and caps’ 173
- 9 Camps as social service and social movement 195
- 10 ‘Down with the concentration camps!’ 222
- Conclusion – Understanding work camps 245
- Select bibliography 264
- Index 271
