ABSTRACT
Until the latter half of the 20th century, most people with mental health problems in the UK received care in large, Victorian asylums, usually located on the periphery of major towns and cities. At their peak in the 19th century, asylums operated as self-contained institutions, with little focus on rehabilitation. Individuals were admitted voluntarily or committed, sometimes for life, and ‘rehabilitation’ mainly comprised work in the laundry, kitchen or gardens or in industrial therapy units where factory style production lines operated.
