The AECY’s Collaboration with the History of Psychiatry Program at Yale School of Medicine
Sanya*, a senior at Yale, writes about the collaboration between the AECY and Psychiatry residents at the Yale School of Medicine, marking the first time this history of eugenics has been integrated into the clinical education received by residents.
Sanya Nair ‘24 (she/her) is an undergraduate studying the Neuroscience and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration.*
On the afternoon of October 26th, 2023, second-year Psychiatry residents studying the Social Justice and Health Equity Curriculum within the Yale Department of Psychiatry Residency Program gathered for a workshop on the history of eugenics at Yale. Led by Professors Daniel HoSang, Marco Ramos, and Dr. Nathan Ha alongside medical historical librarian Melissa Grafe, the students reckoned with and reflected on these histories.
Medical Historian Librarian Melissa Grafe and the Psychiatry Residents Looking at Archives.
Marking the second of a series launched in June, the workshop invited participants to delve into eugenics' enduring influence at Yale. The afternoon kicked off with introspective reflections on the previous session, where many shared their unease over Yale’s historical ties to the eugenics movement. The discussion revealed a poignant awareness of how the legacies of this past still resonate in patient language and distrust in mental healthcare today.
Professor HoSang then provided a brief lecture on the eugenics movement and the concurrent development of Yale’s Psychiatry department. Yale faculty's pivotal roles in the American Eugenics Society (AES) and their drive for public education on the subject coincided with administrative and institutional support for the founding of the Institute of Human Relations (now 333 Cedar St) and Yale’s Psychiatry department. Eugenicists needed and wanted mental testing and psychiatry to support their goals and messaging, and Yale was at the epicenter of this push.
Professor HoSang discussing ties between the American Eugenics Movement at Yale and the eugenic war atrocities in Germany during World War 2
Melissa Grafe then helped lead the residents through engaging with archival materials from Yale’s Department of Psychiatry and the AES, including publications used to “educate” the public on the dangers of misbreeding, the types of classifications and questionnaires used to categorize intelligence and mental disorders, and other texts and communications relating to early 20th-century psychiatry at Yale and eugenics matters. Residents parsed through these materials on their own and engaged in conversation regarding early psychiatric practices at Yale and how it was intertwined with eugenics, prompting a reflection on the underpinnings of their field.
Post-archive, discussions delved into how eugenic ideologies have permeated modern clinical practices, including psychological testing, classifications, and hereditarian explanations. A critical analysis of neuro-centric logic in psychiatry was highlighted, exploring how this approach can pathologize variations and rely excessively on correlational evidence. The workshop addressed the evolution of terms like "mental hygiene" and how historical biases based on social class and race continue to influence psychiatric practice. This included a discussion on the designation of mental illnesses across different social classes in New Haven. Participants examined how eugenic ideas, although discredited scientifically, persist ideologically. Topics like motherhood, mandated reporting, and the inherent subjectivity in psychiatric judgments were discussed, revealing the intertwining of science and societal norms.
A key theme was the striking continuities between eugenic frameworks and modern biomedical approaches in psychiatry, and its implications for how the biopsychosocial formulation is taught to medical professionals. The workshop concluded with an analysis of the intersection of knowledge and power in psychiatry, drawing on the works of Bacon, Foucault, and Ruha Benjamin. Discussions centered on how neuroscience measures, fixes, and classifies what is considered "normal," echoing historical biases.
The October 26th workshop at Yale School of Medicine marks the first time this history has been integrated into the clinical education received by residents.