PETER WHITEHEAD spent ten years in mental in- stitutions before
it was discovered that he had been illegally certified and wrongfully detained. His experiences in Rampton and other institu- tions have now been published in Sentenced Without Cause, by David Roxan (Muller, 18s.); a book which, though the writing is undis- tinguished, does manage to convey something of the Kafka-like atmosphere engendered by the laws relating to mental illness and mental de- ficiency. It is not so much the illegality of the proceedings, or the treatment of the detainees, which is horrifying; but the way in which laws designed to protect individuals in need of care are in fact used to imprison them. Rampton, as Dr. Donald Johnson suggested in his article on the place a few months ago, is in effect, if not in theory, a gaol; and a tough one. Yet men and women can be sent there, as Whitehead was, without trial. And they can be kept there in- definitely. The most vicious criminal can count on being released when his sentence is com- pleted. In mental institutions a sentence is never complete : it is for life, unless the authorities are well disposed.
Previous page
