This vignette from the author's book, "The Reform of the Asylum: Between Conscience and Convenience in Progressive America," provides historical evidence of resistance to community placement of the mentally disabled. Resistance is due to the social convenience of custodial care and the self-interest of institutions and their employees.…

Examines nineteenth-century psychiatric institutions in the Netherlands, focusing on institutions for difficult and neglected children. Considers these areas: (1) background and character of committals; (2) scientific, professional, legal, and financial contexts; and (3) the scope and course of reformatory schooling and healing. (DB)