Isaac Ray was one of the "original thirteen" founders of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (AMSAII), now the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Besides founding this oldest of the American medical specialty organizations, Ray was, effectively, the founder of legal psychiatry as an area of special study. In 1952 the American Psychiatric Association established the Isaac Ray Award, t o be given annually to the person deemed "most worthy by reason of his contribution t o the improvement of the relations of law and psychiatry." A friend and supporter of Dorothea L. Dix, Ray was, himself, a social reformer.Born in Beverly, Mass., in 1807, Isaac Ray was the first child of a widower Yankee sea-captain and his second wife. Isaac was followed by Lydia, Mary Ann, and Albert, in that order. The eight-week-old infant, Albert, died when Isaac was almost seven years old. Eight months later, Isaac Ray had a second tragedy t o cope with, the death of his father. We know little else of his early years other than that he attended Phillips Academy at Andover, Mass., where he roomed with Robert Rantoul, Jr., who later became a notable social reformer and the successor t o Daniel
The author proposes that an adequate appreciation of the American mental health movement will require, ultimately, an appreciation of the concurrent developments in the histories of related professions (e.g., asylum psychiatry, neurology, social work, and public mental health). In this exploratory review, the author demonstrates some reciprocal influences between these professions which were significant determinants for their present positions. Suggestions are offered for other needed interprofessional historical studies in this area.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.