Colonial Psychiatry in Ghana

When did Ghana became a British colony?

1902

What did colonial officials claim about mental illness in Ghana?

That there was an “epidemic of insanity” among Africans.

Where were many “insane” Africans confined?

Colonial asylums such as Victoriaburg (1888)

How was insanity defined in colonial Ghana?

As deviance from European cultural and moral norms

How did administrators and magistrates explain insanity?

Moral decadence, cultural forgetfulness, and criminal behavior

What mistake did colonial administrators make?

They confused criminal behavior with mental illness

How did ethnopsychiatrists explain insanity in Africa?

As a clash between African cultures and Western civilization resulting in psychosocial distress.

Who was believed to experience more insanity?

Urbanized Africans rather than rural Africans

How did anthropologists understand insanity?

As culturally constructed and influenced by societal norms.

What beliefs were linked to insanity by anthropologists?

Witchcraft and juju

What was the deculturation theory of insanity?

The idea that loss of traditional culture due to Western contact caused insanity

Which theory unified colonial views on insanity?

Deculturation theory

Who was J.C. Carothers?

A colonial psychiatrist who studied mental illness in Africa, linking it to cultural disruption.

What did Carothers claim about Africans?

That Africans were biologically inferior and incapable of depression

Why did Carothers’ work dominate colonial psychiatry?

It aligned with colonial government ideology and racial hierarchy

Who was M.J. Field?

An anthropologist who challenged colonial psychiatric theory and emphasized the importance of cultural context in understanding mental health.

How did M.J. Field explain insanity?

As socially and culturally constructed

What groups did Field focus on?

Women, childbirth, and infant mortality

Why was Field’s work ignored?

Colonial psychiatry was patriarchal and her findings challenged colonial ideology

What are major criticisms of colonial psychiatry in Ghana?

It ignored African concepts of insanity, stigmatized beliefs, and denied African agency

Why do African perspectives matter in psychiatry?

They help decolonize diagnosis and support indigenous and integrative care by recognizing local understandings of mental health and promoting culturally relevant treatment.