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Biomedical subjects

V Roelcke

Publications and source records attributed to V Roelcke.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

[Mentalities and sterilization laws in Europe during the 1930s. Eugenics, genetics, and politics in a historic context].

The laws and related practice of sterilisation in Germany during the Nazi period (1933-1945) were not isolated phenomena. Rather, they have to be understood in the broader context of the eugenic and racial hygiene movement developing internationally during the first decades of the twentieth century. Central conditions allowing its emergence were scientific, sociopolitical, and cultural factors. Fears of biological degeneration, economic considerations, and trust in the future potential of biology and in particular genetics played a crucial role in many western societies. Eugenics and the practice of sterilisation are constitutively linked to scientific justifications, just as - complementarily - the development of genetics, in particular psychiatric genetics, is inextricably associated with eugenics and its funding by philanthropic or state institutions. Parallels and a multiplicity of mutual relations existed on various levels, in particular between Germany, the US, and Scandinavian countries.

Eugenics↗
PubMed1998

[Hereditary psychological research in the context of "euthanasia": new documents and aspects on Carl Schneider, Julius Deussen and Ernst Rüdin].

Ernst Rüdin (1874-1952), director of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Psychiatrie in Munich, was one of the leading psychiatrists in Nazi Germany. Prevailing historical research on Rüdin's relation to the systematic annihilation of psychiatric patients is dominated by the only hitherto available biographical account which suggests that Rüdin privately disapproved of the "euthanasia" program, but did not make this disapproval public. According to this account, neither Rüdin nor any of his co-scientists were in any way actively involved in the systematic killings. In contrast to this image, a general evaluation of the historical sources on the systematic killing of patients clearly shows that due to the fragmentary character of the evidence, any exculpation of particular individuals or institutions is premature to date. Furthermore, the reevaluation of already known archival material and new documents presented here proves that Rüdin had a genuine interest in research which on the one hand made profitable use of the killings, and on the other hand was aimed at formulating scientific criteria for the systematic selection and "euthanasia" of those supposedly unworthy to live. Julius Deussen (1906-1970), since 1939 head of the department for hereditary psychology at the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt, was also a close co-worker of Carl Schneider (1891-1946) at the University of Heidelberg. He coordinated the research on children carried through in the context of the "euthanasia"-programme between 1943 and 1945. This research sought to systematically correlate clinical and laboratory findings with the histopathological data of the victims' brains. From the beginning, it included the killing of the patients. Central elements of the research programme had been formulated by Deussen already in Munich. Rüdin supported the activities of Deussen in Heidelberg and repeatedly pointed out that they were of importance for the health and population policy of the Nazi regime.

Euthanasia↗
PubMed1997

Biologizing social facts: an early 20th century debate on Kraepelin's concepts of culture, neurasthenia, and degeneration.

This paper uses an historical approach to elucidate two alternative modes of conceptualizing the relation between social factors and psychological phenomena perceived as pathological. The core features of Neo-Kraepelinian psychiatric nosology associated with the introduction of DSM-III in 1980 were also at the center of a debate in early 20th century Germany. The protagonists were Emil Kraepelin and Oswald Bumke. Kraepelin's empirical research selectively focused on somatic factors as independent variables, such as alcohol, syphilitic infection, and heredity. The ensuing nosology marginalised social factors which might contribute to the etiology and symptom formation of psychiatric conditions. For Bumke, the disorders in question (including the category of neurasthenia) did not represent qualitative deviations from normal psychological states, but quantitative variations of ubiquitous psychological functions caused by a multitude of somatic, psychological, and social factors. The main arguments of the historical debate are reconstructed, with special regard to the professional and political context. The paper illustrates the importance of context-bound pre-'scientific' decisions for the process of formulating theoretical concepts in psychiatry and related disciplines.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗
PubMed1997

Biologizing social facts: an early 20th century debate on Kraepelin's concepts of culture, neurasthenia, and degeneration.

This paper uses an historical approach to elucidate two alternative modes of conceptualizing the relation between social factors and psychological phenomena perceived as pathological. The core features of Neo-Kraepelinian psychiatric nosology associated with the introduction of DSM-III in 1980 were also at the center of a debate in early 20th century Germany. The protagonists were Emil Kraepelin and Oswald Bumke. Kraepelin's empirical research selectively focused on somatic factors as independent variables, such as alcohol, syphilitic infection, and heredity. The ensuing nosology marginalised social factors which might contribute to the etiology and symptom formation of psychiatric conditions. For Bumke, the disorders in question (including the category of neurasthenia) did not represent qualitative deviations from normal psychological states, but quantitative variations of ubiquitous psychological functions caused by a multitude of somatic, psychological, and social factors. The main arguments of the historical debate are reconstructed, with special regard to the professional and political context. The paper illustrates the importance of context-bound pre-'scientific' decisions for the process of formulating theoretical concepts in psychiatry and related disciplines.

Biological Psychiatry↗
PubMed1996

[Innovation and extermination--psychiatric research and "euthanasia" at the Heidelberg Psychiatric Clinic 1939-1945].

The history of German psychiatry is characterized not only by innovative thought in the tradition of Kraepelin and Jaspers, but also by the "euthanasia" program that resulted in the killing of more than 100,000 psychiatric patients and mentally handicapped people. Exemplified by the Psychiatric Department at the University of Heidelberg, the relation between psychiatric research and the systematic killing of patients during the time of National Socialism is analysed. The first part of the paper summarizes the historical background of the general condition of German psychiatry in the 1930s and 1940s. The second part gives an outline of the biography and work of Carl Schneider (1891-1946), head of the Psychiatric Department at Heidelberg until 1945. It can be shown that the call for intensive therapy for those patients who were to be reintegrated into society was connected with the killing of those who were considered to be beyond reach of any active therapeutic approach. This is also the context of C.Schneider's research program concerning mentally handicapped children. The historical reconstruction of research activities, drawing on the patients' files and other documents, reveals that out of 52 children who had been examined, 20 were killed in the asylum of Eichberg in order that their brains might be examined in Heidelberg. The findings are discussed in view of the ongoing historiographical debate on the relationship between the politics of National Socialism and contemporary science.

Child↗
PubMed1996

[Not Available].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Civilization↗
PubMed1996

[We're moving closer and closer to the insane asylum...": Modern life and nervous system diseases by Johann CHristian Reil (1759-1813)].

Johann Christian Reil is usually portrayed as a pioneer in the realm of neuroanatomy and psychiatry, and as a pragmatic physician engaged in contemporary problems of social medicine and hygiene. In this article, the connection between these two fields of interest is focused: Reil's ideas on the relation between the "modern" way of life and the occurrence of diseases of the nervous system. The first part of the paper summarizes Reil's statements on the issue, as laid out e.g. in his "Ueber die Erkenntnis und Cur der Fieber" (1802), and in the "Rhapsodieen über die Anwendung der psychischen Curmethode auf Geisteszerrüttungen" (1803). The second part gives an outline of Reil's neurophysiological model of the interaction between the organ of the soul ("Seelenorgan") and the social environment. In the third part, Reil's conceptions of culture, civilisation, and history are investigated. For Reil, madness is not an alienation from reason, but from a postulated healthy state of nature which is located in the past. Modern life causes and steadily increases a contradiction between the needs of the body and those of the soul, resulting in a concomitant tension and irritability of the nerves. Modern culture is thus criticized for its potentially harmful effects on mental health. The balance between physical and mental activities, and the constitution of a decentralized state would be means to prevent the manifestation of the ensuing diseases.

Germany↗
PubMed1995

[Is the psyche antiquated? A typology of psychotherapeutic critique of civilization in the works of Alexander Mitscherlich].

In the oeuvre of the psychotherapist Alexander Mitscherlich, one of the founding-fathers of psychosomatic medicine in post-war Germany, three basic types of critique of civilization can be identified. They each imply a specific conception of the relation between modernity and psychological disorder. Mitscherlich's ideas on the topic have evolved in a manner consistent with his appropriation of psychoanalysis and his confrontation with the causes and consequences of human behaviour during the time of national socialism.

Germany↗
PubMed1994

Jewish mysticism in romantic medicine? Indirect incorporation of Kabbalistic elements in the work of Gotthilf Heinrich Schubert.

This paper attempts a first outline of an analysis of the connection between the Kabbalah, the tradition of Jewish mysticism, and medicine in the Romantic age. The physician and natural philosopher Gotthilf Heinrich Schubert (1780-1860), a friend and pupil of the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, is chosen as a representative of the era. The political, institutional, and philosophical background at the beginning of the 19th century is outlined to make intelligible the contemporary disposition for mystical ideas. The historical lines of connection between the Kabbalistic tradition and Romantic medical thought as represented by Schubert are investigated, and examples are given for some correspondences of ideas and topics. The specific combination of these topoi, and a multitude of historical lines of connection, primarily through the work of Schelling and the theologian Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, support the hypothesis that Schubert was indirectly influenced by ideas from the Kabbalah. Finally, the history of the reception of Romantic medicine is sketched, with special regard to those strands that are likely to have incorporated elements from the Jewish mystical tradition.

Germany↗
PubMed1994

[Not Available].

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Dreams↗
PubMed1994

[Not Available].

During the last decades, medical historiography has undergone considerable changes. This review attempts an outline of the developments since 1945. The first section sketches the institutional background of the discipline focusing on the characteristic features which emerged in different national traditions. The following sections - essentially restricted to the German speaking context - describe the development of the fields in research and teaching, ranging from the history of ideas to the social history of medicine, from philological and editorial work to the philosophy and sociology of medical knowledge.

Germany↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Between individual therapy and political intervention: campaigns against "diseases of civilization" between 1920 and 1960].

The concept of "disease of civilization" is commonly used for a variety of conditions. It implies a criticism of the "modern" way of life. This criticism and the strategies put forward to prevent diseases of civilization are correlated to the specific historical context in which they are formulated. The paper analyses three positions characterising different periods in 20th century German history: In the Weimar Republic, representatives of paediatrics and social hygiene asked for the expansion of public health care programmes according to the principles laid down by the Weimar constitution. During the time of National Socialism, more radical measures were propagated by exponents of hygiene and psychotherapy, aiming at a fundamental restructuration of society in accordance with the Nazi ideology. After 1945, strategies focused on the individual: Physical exercise, abstinence, and individual psychotherapy were propagated to prevent or treat the consequences of life in modern society.

Germany↗