“Those Psychic Aberrations of Primitive People”: Three Cases of Practicing Psychiatry in the Dutch Indies 1895-1926

Abstract

This thesis sits at the crossroads between the history of psychiatry and the history of colonialism and takes as its subject the way psychiatry was practiced in the Dutch Indies around the turn of the twentieth century. It takes from theories in the field of disability studies, postcolonial studies and histories of psychiatry in the Netherlands to support its understanding of colonial psychiatry. It aims to answer the following question: What role did mental health care play within the Dutch colonial project and how did this influence the care which was provided? To do so, articles published by psychiatrists working in the Dutch Indies or the broader Malayan archipelago will be analyzed to find out how they wrote about three distinct mental disorders, namely latah, amok and koro. Each of these disorders were discussed at length in scientific publications, showcasing the exchange of knowledge that was happening and the way psychiatrists built on each other’s work. In doing so it aims to show how they contributed to the making of these labels during a time when the field of psychiatry was relatively new. It then shows how this practice was entangled with the larger colonial project, visible largely through government policy, which was active in the Dutch Indies around this time. Additionally, it takes into consideration the reactions from the native population to this practice and its role in the colonial project. Ultimately, it crafts a space for colonial psychiatry to be discussed as both part of Dutch history and the wider history of colonialism.