| In the late-eighteenth century, institutionalization began to represent one aspect of progress and modernity. But it is also true that while recognized as a social problem, the practice of the "cure" conformed to the prevailing social paradigms of nineteenth-century Cuba. The Casa de Dementes, the asylum founded in 1857, served as a place of confinement for the mentally ill, as well as for vagrants and free people of color to the asylum. By institutionalizing people classified as sane alongside those diagnosed as mentally ill, asylum administrators revised the accepted understanding of insanity as solely a mental condition. The arrival of psychiatrist Jose Joaquin Munoz to Havana in 1863 further illustrated progress and the development of psychiatry in Cuba. Over time, the Casa de Dementes served to symbolize either the progress or decline of Cuban society. Scholars and physicians celebrated the asylum as an indicator of both societal progress and cultural stagnation. |
