- Isaac Ray
Isaac Ray (1807-1881) was an American
psychiatrist , one of the founders of the discipline offorensic psychiatry . In 1838, he published "A Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity" (Boston), which served as an authoritative text for many years. cite web | title=19th Century Psychiatrists of Note | work=Diseases of the Mind: Highlights of American Psychiatry Through 1900 | url=http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/diseases/note.html | publisher=US National Library of Medicine | accessdate=2007-09-03 ]A graduate of
Phillips Academy (Class of 1822), Ray received his medical degree in 1827 from the Medical College of Maine (Bowdoin) and attempted to establish a general practice in Portland, Maine. When this venture failed, he moved to the coastal village of Eastport, where he practiced, taught, and wrote his "Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity," published in 1838. After several years in Eastport, he was appointed Superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane in Augusta in 1841. In 1845 he moved toProvidence, Rhode Island , to supervise the building of the privateButler Hospital and became its first Superintendent. Prior to Butler Hospital's receiving patients in 1847, Ray toured the asylums of Europe, reporting his findings in the "American Journal of Insanity." In 1867, he moved to an active retirement inPhiladelphia .The "Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity" was very influential and was deployed effectively by defense
lawyer Sir Alexander Cockburn in the English trial ofDaniel M'Naghten in 1843. At the trial, Cockburn quoted extensively from the book which rejected traditional views of theinsanity defense based on the defendant's ability to distinguish "right from wrong" in favour of a broader approach based oncausation . [ cite book | author=Cornish, W. & Clarke, G. | title=Law and Society in England 1750-1950 | location=London | publisher=Sweet & Maxwell | year=1989 | id=ISBN 0421311509 | pages=603-604 ]One of the founding members of the
Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane , he served as President from 1855 to 1859. Between 1828 and 1880, except for one year he published at least one article every year, mainly dealing with insanity and its legal implications. Ray also published several important monographs, including "Mental Hygiene" (Boston, 1863) and "Contributions to Mental Pathology" (Boston, 1873).In 1868, the Superintendents’ Association adopted his "Project of a Law," which recommended statutory enactment to secure the rights of the mentally ill and define the civil and criminal relationships of the insane. [Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (1876) "pp"17-22]
References
Bibliography
*Adapted from
public domain text at cite web | title=19th Century Psychiatrists of Note | work=Diseases of the Mind: Highlights of American Psychiatry Through 1900 | url=http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/diseases/note.html | publisher=US National Library of Medicine | accessdate=2007-09-03 ----
* cite journal | author= [Anon.] | title=Isaac Ray 1807-1881 | journal=Rhode Island Medical Journal | year=1963 | volume=46 | pages=425–6
*Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (1876) PDFlink|" [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/diseases/proposition.pdf Propositions and Resolutions] "|4.39 MiB , Philadelphia
* cite journal | author=Diamond, B. L. | title=Isaac Ray and the trial of Daniel M'Naghten | journal=American Journal of Psychiatry | year=1956 | volume=112(8)| pages=651–656
* cite journal | author=Hader M. | title=Isaac Ray, forensic medicine and geriatric psychiatry | journal=Gerontologist | year=1965 | volume=5(4) | pages=268–269
* cite journal | author=Payne H. & Luthe R. | title=Isaac Ray and forensic psychiatry in the United States | journal=Forensic Science International | year=1980 | volume=15(2) | pages=115–127 | doi=10.1016/0379-0738(80)90150-4
* cite journal | author=Quen, J. M. | title=Isaac Ray and mental hygiene in America | journal= Annals of the New York Acadademy of Sciences | year=1977 | volume=291 | pages=83–93 | doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb53062.x
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