Just the Basic Facts: The Certification of Insanity in the Era of the Form K.

Just the Basic Facts: The Certification of Insanity in the Era of the Form K. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 2020 Mar 05;: Authors: Sposini FM Abstract This paper investigates the certification of insanity through a standardized template called Form K which was used in Ontario between 1873 and 1883. My main thesis is that the introduction of the Form K had profound and long-lasting effects on the determination of insanity. In particular, it created a unique case in the history of certification, it grounded civil confinement on a strategy of consensus, and it informed mental health documentation for more than a century. As the result of a transnational mediation from Victorian England, the Form K prescribed an examination setting which involved a high number of participants, including three physicians and several witnesses. By comparing this case with other jurisdictions of the time, this paper shows how Ontario became a distinctive case worldwide. In order to get a closer look at this medico-legal procedure, I consider the archival records of the Toronto asylum and conclude that the certification of insanity relied on a strategy of consensus. While the Form K proved quite successful in preventing legal actions, it produced financial, logistic, and bureaucratic issues. The Form K was thus discontinued after a decade, yet its structure influenced Ontario's mental health documentation throughout the twentieth century. This paper shows the relev...
Source: Medical History - Category: History of Medicine Authors: Tags: J Hist Med Allied Sci Source Type: research