Un affare di famiglia. L’internamento manicomiale e la questione degli alimenti a Roma tra XVIII e XIX secolo

Recent review of social control concept and the transition from the theory of grand renfermement to a much more complex and articulate vision of early modern care system as a «mixed economy of care» allows to reconsider the relationship between public and private, family and institutions with particular regard to the rise of the asylum as controversial event in the history. As demonstrated by the administrative records and account books relating to confinement of insane in the hospital of Santa Maria della Pietà in Rome during the transition from «hospitale de’ pazzi» to modern asylum, the question of maintenance costs is crucial to understanding the sharing of responsibilities and the conflits between families and institution.