Considered an embarrassment to her father Joseph Kennedy Jr., Rosemary was hidden from public view and ultimately institutionalised following her lobotomy. The procedure was performed by inserting a sharp instrument into the brain and swinging it around to destroy brain tissue. It was believed that severing tissue in this part of the brain could cure psychiatric disorders. Dr. Walter Freeman, the doctor who pioneered the lobotomy in America, performed the procedure on Rosemary himself.