Ethics Of Mental Health Dating From The 1940s To The Late 1950s

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According to the oxford dictionary the definition of ethics is “a moral set of principles that governs a person’s behaviour or a conducting of an activity”, in simple terms they affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. ref This essay, will explore the evolution within the ethics of mental health dating from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. This will cover the ethics surrounding how society viewed mental health and the Acts that were put in place within this period, in addition the medical procedures and medication used for those who were suffering with mental health issues. Mental health, in the early1940s to late 1950s had noticeably two ethical theories that dominate this time period these are Deontology, “which emphasises the course of action taken as the major consideration, regardless of the out-come”, the opposing theory is called Teleology “which emphasises the out-come as the most important factor determining whether an action is right or wrong” …show more content…

In addition, according to Bogg (2010, p.23) “moral weakness was a common diagnosis at this point in psychiatric history, and was one reason why such treatment of those considered mad was justified by society”. Society believed that people suffering from mental health issues lived immoral lives and did not deserve to live in the community with the general