The growing diagnosis of mental disorders in children is among the most pressing questions of our time, yet surprisingly little is known about how the issue of children’s mental health rose to prominence in the 20th century. The present project aims to address this lacuna by examining the development of Danish child psychiatry in the period from 1945 to the 1990s. During this period, Danish child psychiatry was founded. In 1944, the first ward opened at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, and by the 1960s, several institutions, clinics and schools had been established for children with mental health issues. This project examines how Danish child psychiatry developed in the clinic and beyond.
Project description
The project team takes a comprehensive approach by focusing on practices both within and outside the specialty and look at how these practices resonated with wider socio-political concerns. Furthermore, we will combine new theoretical and methodological approaches with extensive empirical studies based on exceptional archival materials, film, and other sources. This allows us to gain unique insight not only into the work and preoccupations of practitioners, but also aspects of the lived experiences of children and their families. Our contribution is: (1) to provide a first analysis of the development of child psychiatry in Denmark between 1945 and 1990, a highly dynamic time period characterized by theoretical pluralism, ideological struggle, and increasing interdisciplinary cooperation; (2) to explore for the first time how child psychiatric assessment and psychological treatment were taken up and practised outside hospitals, i.e. in schools, child services, orphanages, treatment homes; (3) to demonstrate how theoretical approaches and quantitative analysis of diverse sources can be used to produce a multi-facetted understanding of historical processes.
Project period
01.03.2024-01.03.2026
Collaboration and funding
The project is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, DFF Research Project 2, Humanities.