who brought the reforms of moral therapy to the us
Moral treatment A key figure in the early spread of moral treatment in the United States was Benjamin Rush (1745â€“1813),[9] an eminent physician at Pennsylvania Hospital. He limited his practice to mental illness and developed innovative, humane approaches to treatment. He required that the hospital hire intelligent and sensitive attendants to work closely with patients, reading and talking to them and taking them on regular walks. He also suggested that it would be therapeutic for doctors to give small gifts to their patients every so often. However, Rush's treatment methods included bloodletting (bleeding), purging, hot and cold baths, mercury, and strapping patients to spinning boards and "tranquilizer" chairs.[10]
History of United States prison systems Starting in the 1820s, a new institution, the "penitentiary", gradually became the focal point of criminal justice in the United States.[104] At the same time, other novel institutions—the asylum and the almshouse—redefined care for the mentally ill and the poor.[105] For its proponents, the penitentiary was an ambitious program whose external appearance, internal arrangements, and daily routine would counteract the disorder and immorality thought to be breeding crime in American society.[104] Although its adoption was haphazard at first, and marked by political strife—especially in the South—the penitentiary became an established institution in the United States by the end of the 1830s.[106]