Abstract
This article will present an historical overview of the use of coercive measures as a means to control acting out and violence in psychiatric settings in the pre-institutional and institutional periods of mental health care in Canada, (mid-1800s- 1970s). It will explore practices and outcomes that
included seclusion, hydrotherapy, surgical, chemical and physical restraints. Therapies considered effective during the period also had adverse effects, but more importantly they were used in a coercive manner against patients. Evidence will be provided to support this. The advent of 20th Century psychology applied to the clinical setting and the introduction of psychiatric nursing education will be discussed briefly in relation to the subject. Finally, the article will speak briefly to current trends and practices in mental health care noting the significant reduction in the use of
coercive measures in the post-institutional period.
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