Welcome to Arkham Asylum
Essays on Psychiatry and the Gotham City Institution
Published on 2. January 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
311 pages
978-1-4766-7098-0 (ISBN)
Description
Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a staple of the Batman universe, evolving into a franchise comprised of comic books, graphic novels, video games, films, television series and more. The Arkham franchise, supposedly light-weight entertainment, has tackled weighty issues in contemporary psychiatry. Its plotlines reference clinical and ethical controversies that perplex even the most up-to-date professionals. The 25 essays in this collection explore the significance of Arkham's sinister psychiatrists, murderous mental patients, and unethical geneticists. It invites debates about the criminalization of the mentally ill, mental patients who move from defunct state hospitals into expanding prisons, madness versus badness, sociopathy versus psychosis, the "insanity defense" and more. Invoking literary figures from Lovecraft to Poe to Caligari, the 25 essays in this collection are a broad-ranging and thorough assessment of the franchise and its relationship to contemporary psychiatry.
Reviews / Votes
"This collection excels in a scholarly, well-referenced survey that considers the wide-ranging cultural impact and influence of the Arkman Asylum. Offers an involving literary and multidisciplinary approach designed to appeal to a large audience of college readers interested in the Arkham legacy."-Donovan's BookshelfMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Jefferson, NC
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
42 photos, appendix, filmography, notes, bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
590 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4766-7098-0 (9781476670980)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Sharon Packer, M.D., is a New York City psychiatrist and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Daniel R. Fredrick is an assistant professor of writing at the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Content
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Jason W. Ellis
Preface by Sharon Packer, M.D.
Introduction: Why Arkham, Why Now? (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Section I: Clinical Psychiatric Controversies
The Differential Diagnosis of Elizabeth Arkham (Elyse D. Weiner, M.D.)
ECT in Arkham Asylum: Pacification, Assassination and Electrocution (Timothy W. Kneeland)
Hallucinations and Psychedelics in Arkham (Matthew Brown, D.O., and Fernando Espi Forcen, M.D.)
Section II: Forensic Psychiatric Controversies I'm [Virtual] Batman: Violence and Video Games (Ryan C.W. Hall, M.D., and Susan Hatters Friedman, M.D.)
Deadly and Dysfunctional Family Dynamics: When Fiction Mirrors Fact
(Susan Hatters Friedman, M.D., and Ryan C.W. Hall, M.D.)
Murderous Minds, Arkham Villains and Real (Not Reel) Life
Movie Massacres (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Section III: -Medical-Ethical Controversies Anti-Psychiatry and the Arkham Asylum (Fernando Espi Forcen, M.D.)
Harley Quinn and the Joker: Pitfalls of -Doctor-Patient Romances (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Unethical Experiments in Arkham and Elsewhere (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Section IV: Big Screen Parallels Arkham's Sinister Psychiatrists and the Continuum with Caligari (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Haunted by Madness: Horror and the Supernatural in Arkham Asylum
(Michael Markus)
Breaking Out: The Escaped Mental Patient in the Batman Universe (Jeffrey Bullins)
The Suicide Squad: From Bad to Good and Back Again (Jaq Greenspon and Rasa Greenspon)
Section V: Small Screen Parallels Animated Arkham: Television and Children's Perceptions of Psychiatric Treatment (Kristi Rowan Humphreys)
The Fine Line Between Sanity and Madness in Star Trek's "Whom Gods Destroy" and Arkham Asylum: A Serious Place on Serious Earth
(Darren -Harris-Fain and Eric J. Sterling)
Section VI: Video Screen Parallels If Walls Could Scream: Embedded Narratives and Mazes of Madness in the Virtual Space of Arkham (Asylum Shawn Edrei)
Excavating Arkham: The Mental Asylum as Horrible Homecoming
(Brenda S. Gardenour Walter)
Section VII: Literary and Artistic Influences
Bizarro Arkham, Bizarro World: The Looking Glass Looks Back
(Aaron Barlow)
The -Neo-Expressionist Agony of Arkham Asylum
(Rosa JH Berland)
Surrealism's Influence on Arkham and Psychiatry's Influence on Surrealism (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Poe's Place in Arkham Asylum: Precursors and Parallels (Caleb Puckett)
H.P. Lovecraft, Literary Heritage and Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eric Sandberg)
Section VIII: Mythic and Religious Parallels Evil Clowns and Acrobats: The Joker and Harley Quinn (Adam W. Darlage)
Matricide and Myth (Daniel R. Fredrick)
Appendix: Unethical Experiments in Modern Genetics Research
About the Contributors
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Jason W. Ellis
Preface by Sharon Packer, M.D.
Introduction: Why Arkham, Why Now? (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Section I: Clinical Psychiatric Controversies
The Differential Diagnosis of Elizabeth Arkham (Elyse D. Weiner, M.D.)
ECT in Arkham Asylum: Pacification, Assassination and Electrocution (Timothy W. Kneeland)
Hallucinations and Psychedelics in Arkham (Matthew Brown, D.O., and Fernando Espi Forcen, M.D.)
Section II: Forensic Psychiatric Controversies I'm [Virtual] Batman: Violence and Video Games (Ryan C.W. Hall, M.D., and Susan Hatters Friedman, M.D.)
Deadly and Dysfunctional Family Dynamics: When Fiction Mirrors Fact
(Susan Hatters Friedman, M.D., and Ryan C.W. Hall, M.D.)
Murderous Minds, Arkham Villains and Real (Not Reel) Life
Movie Massacres (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Section III: -Medical-Ethical Controversies Anti-Psychiatry and the Arkham Asylum (Fernando Espi Forcen, M.D.)
Harley Quinn and the Joker: Pitfalls of -Doctor-Patient Romances (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Unethical Experiments in Arkham and Elsewhere (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Section IV: Big Screen Parallels Arkham's Sinister Psychiatrists and the Continuum with Caligari (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Haunted by Madness: Horror and the Supernatural in Arkham Asylum
(Michael Markus)
Breaking Out: The Escaped Mental Patient in the Batman Universe (Jeffrey Bullins)
The Suicide Squad: From Bad to Good and Back Again (Jaq Greenspon and Rasa Greenspon)
Section V: Small Screen Parallels Animated Arkham: Television and Children's Perceptions of Psychiatric Treatment (Kristi Rowan Humphreys)
The Fine Line Between Sanity and Madness in Star Trek's "Whom Gods Destroy" and Arkham Asylum: A Serious Place on Serious Earth
(Darren -Harris-Fain and Eric J. Sterling)
Section VI: Video Screen Parallels If Walls Could Scream: Embedded Narratives and Mazes of Madness in the Virtual Space of Arkham (Asylum Shawn Edrei)
Excavating Arkham: The Mental Asylum as Horrible Homecoming
(Brenda S. Gardenour Walter)
Section VII: Literary and Artistic Influences
Bizarro Arkham, Bizarro World: The Looking Glass Looks Back
(Aaron Barlow)
The -Neo-Expressionist Agony of Arkham Asylum
(Rosa JH Berland)
Surrealism's Influence on Arkham and Psychiatry's Influence on Surrealism (Sharon Packer, M.D.)
Poe's Place in Arkham Asylum: Precursors and Parallels (Caleb Puckett)
H.P. Lovecraft, Literary Heritage and Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eric Sandberg)
Section VIII: Mythic and Religious Parallels Evil Clowns and Acrobats: The Joker and Harley Quinn (Adam W. Darlage)
Matricide and Myth (Daniel R. Fredrick)
Appendix: Unethical Experiments in Modern Genetics Research
About the Contributors
Filmography
Bibliography
Index