LEADER 03557nam 2200397 450 001 9910634062403321 005 20230516204625.0 035 $a(CKB)5850000000308351 035 $a(NjHacI)995850000000308351 035 $a(EXLCZ)995850000000308351 100 $a20230516d2023 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aLooking after Miss Alexander $ecare, mental capacity, and the Court of Protection in mid-twentieth-century England /$fJanet Weston 210 1$aMontreal :$cMcGill-Queen's University Press,$d2023. 215 $a1 online resource (193 pages) 225 1 $aStates, people, and the history of social change 311 $a0-2280-1609-6 327 $aLooking After Miss Alexander Care, Mental Capacity, and the Court of Protection in Mid-Twentieth-Century England -- Cover -- Half Title Page -- Series Editors -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- CONTENTS -- FIGURES -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- LOOKING AFTER MISS ALEXANDER -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER 1: ORIGINS -- INTRODUCING THE LUNACY OFFICE -- INTRODUCING MISS ALEXANDER -- RESPONDING TO MENTAL WEAKNESS -- CHAPTER 2: TURNING TO THE COURTS -- LUNACY OFFICE APPLICANTS -- UNDERSTANDING DR STEPHENSON -- REQUESTING A RECEIVER -- CHAPTER 3: FOUND INCAPABLE EVALUATING MISS ALEXANDER -- CONTESTING INCAPACITY -- THE FINAL DECISION -- CHAPTER 4: PROVIDING CARE -- CARE IN THE HOME -- OFFICIAL CARE -- MATTERS OF INTERPRETATION -- CHAPTER 5: ENDINGS -- THE COURT OF PROTECTION -- THE KEY PLAYERS -- MISS ALEXANDER'S SMALL STORY -- NOTES -- INDEX. 330 $aIn July 1939, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, fifty-nine-year-old Beatrice Alexander was found incapable of managing her own property and affairs. Although Alexander and those living with her insisted that she was perfectly well, the official solicitor took control of her home and money, evicted her "friends," and hired a live-in companion to watch over her. Alexander remained legally incapable for the next thirty years. In the mid-twentieth century, Alexander was one of about thirty thousand people in England and Wales who were, at any time, legally "incapable" and under the auspices of what is now the Court of Protection. Focusing on the period between the 1920s and the 1960s, Looking After Miss Alexander explains the workings of the court, using Alexander's unusual case to consider the complexities of this aspect of mental health law. Drawing on Court of Protection archives - some of which were made publicly available for the first time in 2019 - and micro-historical methods, Janet Weston also highlights the role of chance, subjectivity, and uncertainty in shaping how events unfolded then, and the stories we tell about those events today. An engaging and accessible history of mental capacity law, Looking After Miss Alexander examines ideas of citizenship and welfare, gender and vulnerability, care and control, and the role of the state. It also offers reflections on historical research and writing itself. 410 0$aStates, people, and the history of social change. 606 $aMental illness$xPrevention 606 $aMental health 615 0$aMental illness$xPrevention. 615 0$aMental health. 676 $a616.89 700 $aWeston$b Janet$0935115 801 0$bNjHacI 801 1$bNjHacl 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910634062403321 996 $aLooking After Miss Alexander$93012893 997 $aUNINA