Assignment prompts

annotated bibliography PDF

Proposal

Lobotomy Orbitoclast & Hammer Surgical Medical Tools - Etsy Australia

(Orbitoclast & Hammer)

 

The Orbitoclast is a spike-shaped tool that is essential for performing
Lobotomies, a highly controversial surgery used in the late 1800s up until the 1950s for
patients with severe mental health conditions. The Lobotomy procedure involves using
the hammer to get the Orbitoclast into the brain through the eye. Lobotomies were the last
resort treatment for mental health patients and often resulted in injuries and rare
cases death. In the early 1900s, asylums were overflowing and there were not enough
studies in psychology to properly treat patients so psychiatrists went to extreme measures
to solve this issue.

the research question I will aim to answer is; What did the Orbitoclast teach us
about how the brain works and how its use changed our ways of psychological
treatment and our perception of good ethics?

Topic Outline


I would like to study the impact of the Orbitoclast through a social, psychological,
and ethical lens and focus on the effects that the object had on our society and also
what its existence says about our society. The lobotomy was very controversial and led
to the misfortune of many it also was used on people with mental health issues which
were very poorly treated by society at the time. The fact that such a dangerous
procedure was allowed to be performed on these people brings up many ethical
concerns which I will touch upon in my essay. My research will explain the place of the
Orbitoclast in our society and will deeply explore its implications.

New Research


The two books I have chosen from the library are My Lobotomy and The
Lobotomist. The first book, a memoir written by Howard Dully will help me understand the ethical issues surrounding lobotomies on a more personal level. Howard Dully being a patient of Dr. Freeman himself will make the memoir a crucial primary source. In “My Lobotomy” Howard takes a look into his past and tells the story of his childhood and how it was taken from him. Howard Dully was only 12 years old when he had the surgery performed and became Dr. Freeman’s youngest patient. Howard’s young age and the negative symptoms after the lobotomy will support my claim that Lobotomies are unethical. The other book, The Lobotomist will give me insight into the opposite end of the situation and educate me on the creators of the surgery and the people performing them. The Lobotomist is a non-fiction book written by Jack El-Hai. In The Lobotomist EL-Hai explores the mind of Walter Freeman, creator of the lobotomy as we know it today, and how he went about making lobotomies the primary treatment for the mentally ill. El-Hai dives deep into the life of Walter Freeman looking through his old left-behind papers and interviewing his family about his work.. The Lobotomist will help me better understand Walter Freeman and how he went about ‘helping’ the mentally ill, it will also shed light on the cultural and ethical implications of the Lobotomy. Another source I found to be helpful was the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The movie helped give me an idea of what it would be like in an asylum where lobotomies were done and helped me visualize the scene I will be writing about. When searching the web I came across an article, “Why Lobotomies Are No Longer Mainstream Psychological Treatments.” ‌This piece delves into the lobotomy and its history from a modern perspective. The article focuses on the controversy of lobotomies and how they are done. The author, Peter Pressman aims to inform about lobotomy through a scientific and cultural lens. The article will help me understand the implications of lobotomy and its eventual downfall. The author goes from writing about the development of the lobotomy and the Nobel prize its inventor one to addressing all the side effects and explaining how it went wrong. Near the end of the article, the author gets deeper into the failure of the lobotomy and acknowledges the poor ethical limitations and lack of substantial evidence used to support it.

Reflection


I think lobotomies and the fact that they were done so commonly is
extremely unethical, especially considering the little amount of research done on the
surgery and the detrimental effect it had on the lives of patients. 

Sources Cited

  •  Dully, Howard, and Charles Fleming. My Lobotomy: A Memoir. London, Vermilion, 2008.
  • El-Hai, Jack. The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley; Chichester, 2005. 
  • Pressman, Peter. “Why Lobotomies Are No Longer Mainstream Psychological Treatments.” Verywell Health, 3 Nov. 2021, www.verywellhealth.com/frontal-lobotomy-2488774.
  • YouTube Movies. “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” YouTube, 17 Mar. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMox95yKNkY.