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History of Psychiatry, Vol. 17, No. 3, 259-278 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0957154X06061984
© 2006 SAGE Publications

Avoiding violence by technologies? Rectal feeding in German psychiatry,c. 1860–85

Kai Sammet

Department of History and Ethics of Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany; sammet{at}uke.uni-hamburg.de

During the nineteenth century, the use of the stomach tube became the preferred method to treat the insane refusing to eat. But it was not unusual for this practice to result in violence and serious injuries. Especially around 1860, when the discussion of non-restraint in German psychiatry reached its climax, other methods of dealing with sitophobia became the focus of interest. In particular, two psychiatrists who ran a private asylum in Endenich near Bonn, Franz Richarz and Bernhard Oebeke, recommended rectal feeding as a means of avoiding violence and injury. This paper deals with this method and also outlines the different ‘technologies’ used to treat ‘abstinent’ insane patients.

Key Words: forced feeding • German psychiatry • sitophobia • stomach tube • techniques • 19th century


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