Station C: Prison and Asylum Reforms

How was Dix able to get the legislature to approve her proposals?

• She went to court

• She organized protests

• She provided data from jails she visited

• She presented a testimonial before the legislature

How did the American society view mental illness?

• Something to be treated with care

• Something tainting a person’s life that couldn’t be cured

• Something that should be celebrated

• A false idea made up by people to excuse their bad actions

Before reform, how were the mentally ill treated?

• They were put in prisons with murderers

• Forced to serve on many ships where they couldn't cause harm to the general public

• Shock therapy, chained down, locked in rooms

• Enslaves and forced to work in the cotton fields next to African Americans

Before reform, which was NOT true of prisons

• Children could receive life sentences

• Murderers would be mixed in with non-violent criminals

• People could be imprisoned for spitting in the streets

• People could escape without being punished

After Asylum Reform, what changed?

• The mentally ill were required to be cared for for life

• The use of new treatment like talk therapy developed

• The mentally ill were sent to homes with orphans

• There was more uses for electro-shock therapy

How did Dorothea Dix bring change to the country?

• By going state to state to lobby each government for change

• By getting the US congress to pass a law effecting the whole country at once

• By starting violent protests that spread to the streets of DC

• By raising money to pay off congressmen into supporting asylums

Who was the main leader in Prison and Asylum Reforms

• Abigail Adams

• Betsy Ross

• Dorothea Dix

• Susan B Anthony