Asylums and Sport: Participation, Isolation and the Role of Cricket in the Treatment of the Insane

Cricket and the Beechworth Asylum, 1910–1915: A collective biography

“…Sport was considered therapeutic for patients, especially men, giving them the opportunity to be outdoors and participating in activities similar to those seen in the wider community (Cherry and Munting, 2005;Ellis, 2013). With its masculine orientation, sport might have been seen as a valuable weapon against masturbation and neurasthenia (nervous debility), two common diagnoses in male patients (Wright, 2009).…”

“…The value of cricket and other sports in asylums, along with entertainments such as musical concerts and theatricals, was reflected in staff employment practices and staff were expected to use their sporting or cultural talents for the benefit of the asylum (MacKinnon, 2009a). Ellis (2013) notes concerns in the 19th century that recruitment of medical officers and chaplains seemed to be based more on their sporting and musical ability than their knowledge of mental illness. A letter to the British Medical Journal in 1894 from 'Disgusted' railed against this practice, which was gradually extended to all staff and that continued well into the 20th century (Cherry and Munting, 2005;MacKinnon, 2009a;Mitchell, 1997).…”

Sport and Incarceration: Theoretical Considerations for Sport for Development Research

“…Indeed, in his research on prison sport, Norman (2017Norman ( , 2018aNorman ( , 2018b has argued that there may be considerable value in comparative research on sport across a range of 'total institutions'-such as military facilities, youth custody centres, and refugee camps-that share carceral features. Though not explicitly describing them as compact carceral sites, researchers have examined the social meanings of sport in a variety of spaces fitting this description, including camps for refugees and migrants (Dukic, McDonald, & Spaaij, 2017;McGee & Pelham, 2018;Spaaij et al, 2019) and various historical sites, such as mental institutions (Ellis, 2013), Japanese internment camps in the United States (Mullan, 1999), and Canadian residential schools for Indigenous youth (Forsyth, 2013;Te Hiwi & Forsyth, 2017). In cases where SfD programs have operated in compact sites, carceral geography offers researchers rich insights for analyzing the oppressive daily experiences of confined people and the potential liberatory or punitive effects that sport may generate.…”

‘The Head Carver’: Art Extraordinary and the small spaces of asylum

“…The relationship between the two men demonstrates the importance of broadening asylum histories beyond the hospital wards to the houses and gardens within and beyond an asylum’s perimeter. Correlations can be made with research on sports activity in asylums, which has sought to place asylums at the centre of wider societal networks ( Ellis, 2013 ). For Adam, significance was found in attachments to the immediate asylum landscape as source and site for creative activity, but spaces outwith the hospital, such as Lamb’s studio, also offered opportunities for learning his craft and being inspired.…”

“…Scull’s (1979 , 2006 , 2015 ) calls to expose the range of economic, social, political and cultural dimensions to ‘madness’ has inspired research into the spatial distribution of asylums ( Dear and Wolch, 1987 ; Philo, 2004 ), networks of the psychiatric profession ( Andrews and Smith, 1993 ; Miller, 2004 ), practicalities of ‘asylumdom’ ( Davis, 2008 ; MacKenzie, 1992 ) and individual practitioner and patient case studies ( Beveridge, 2011 ; McGeachan, 2014 ). Significant work has also opened up the smaller sites and spaces of the asylum, including laboratories ( Finn, 2012 ), cemeteries ( Philo, 2012 ), sports facilities ( Ellis, 2013 ), and specialist sites for treatment such as insulin coma wards ( McGeachan, 2013 ) and scientific intervention such as post-mortems ( Andrews, 2012 ; Wallis, 2013 ). Attention to the differing practices of surveillance in these ‘small spaces’ has also arisen, highlighting the configurations of power bound up with such institutional nooks and crannies ( Hide, 2014 ; Monk, 2008 ).…”