Suffering and Injustice in Psychiatry and Disability Care

In recent years, nationwide several studies have brought unethical medical practices and drug testing in asylums, psychiatric clinics, and institutions for the disabled to public attention. In Schleswig-Holstein, extensive media coverage since 2016 generated a great deal of pressure on politicians, resulting in the decision by the local government to also launch an investigation here.

In 2019, the institute was commissioned by the Ministry for Social Affairs, Health Youth, Family and Senior Citizens Schleswig-Holstein to investigate psychiatric drug trials in institutions for the disabled and psychiatric hospitals in Schleswig-Holstein during the years 1949 to 1975. The project ran from October 2018 to November 2020.

Already before the compilation of this project and due to its great public resonance, the federal state solicited a second project documenting the suffering and experiences of injustice by children and adolescents in psychiatric institutions and institutions for the disabled during the years 1949 to 1990. This project ran from November 2019 to October 2021.

The project was led by Prof. Cornelius Borck in collaboration with Prof. Gabriele Lingelbach (History of the 19th-21st Century, Christian Albrechts University Kiel) and carried out in cooperation with Prof. Sebastian Graf von Kielmansegg (Public Law and Medical Law, Christian Albrechts University Kiel), Prof. Rainer Hering (State Archives Schleswig), Prof. Fritz Hohagen / Prof. Stefan Borgwardt (Psychiatric Clinic Lübeck) and Prof. Christoph Rehmann-Sutter (IMGWF).

With these projects, the Institute has made an important contribution to the post-war history of psychiatric care and the development of institutions for the disabled in Schleswig-Holstein. On the basis of these research results and in exchange with colleagues from similar projects, the anthology "Zwischen Beharrung, Kritik und Reform. Psychiatrische Anstalten und Heime für Menschen mit Behinderung in der deutschen Nachkriegsgeschichte" edited by Cornelius Borck and Gabriele Lingelbach. A review can be found here.