"The first time you forgive, the second you club". Women in mental institutions during the fascist regime

The paper considers the life stories of women admitted in the asylum of Saint Anthony of Teramo during the years of the fascist regime. The aim is to illustrate how fascism draws on established cultural patterns - based on a positivist imprint - to contain female perversion. The psychiatric institution confirms its repressive function and assisted the State in preserving the morality and health of the human race. Within the walls of the psychiatric institution, we find the "pecore matte" who interacted with the regime placing themselves outside the conventional models. Subject to psychiatric treatments, women acquired new cultural identities, while the hysterical ones returned to the institution’s medical records. Moreover, the Rocco Penal Code humiliated the victims of rape, forcing them to undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine their morality and ability of endurance towards their assailants

Annacarla Valeriano, «La prima volta si perdona, la seconda si bastona». Donne in manicomio nel regime fascista in "STORIA E PROBLEMI CONTEMPORANEI" 70/2015, pp 11-32, DOI: 10.3280/SPC2015-070002