THE ESCAPE OF a Broadmoor inmate, coupled with the failure
of the institution's warning system, has led to an ugly wave of hysteria in the Press, and will probably lead to renewed demands for tougher treatment of criminal lunatics. 'The balance remains tilted,' The Times protests, 'in favour of reforming prisoners at the expense of not ensuring that they serve their due sentences.' This is rubbish, and dangerous rubbish. One of the most significant adVances in the understanding of mental illness recently has been the recognition that restraint, in the old sense of locked doors, padded cells, and straitjackets, is actually respon- sible for insanity. All over the country mental hospitals have been converting to the 'Open Door' System, and the results are plain to see: wards which once housed dangerous maniacs are now occupied by controllable (even if not sane) Patients. True, such methods have to be modified for use in institutions such as Rampton or Broad- moor, which are really prisons rather than hos- pitals. Nevertheless, much useful work has been done, particularly at Broadmoor, to apply the lessons learned from the 'Open Door' system. To cure inmates of their insanity is, after all, the best protection for society. An occasional mistake is bound to be made, particularly in dealing with cunning psychopaths who are the graduates of the repellent Ramptim system. But an 'episode of this kind, however alarming. should not be the excuse for a panic retreat into obscurantist methods.
* , * •
Previous page
