Editing Straitjacket (section)

==History==
[[File:Straight Jacket 03.JPG|thumb|Victorian straitjacket on display at [[Glenside Museum]]]]
The word "strait", in this context, means "confinement". 
The straitjacket is described as early as 1772, in a book by the Irish physician [[David Macbride]], although there are claims an upholsterer named Guilleret invented it in 1790 France for [[Bicêtre Hospital]].<ref>[http://chk-bicetre.scola.ac-paris.fr/histoire/historique/documents/textes/lancien-regime.htm#alienes Centre scolaire du CHU de Bicêtre]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921052025/http://chk-bicetre.scola.ac-paris.fr/histoire/historique/documents/textes/lancien-regime.htm#alienes |date=September 21, 2008 }}</ref> (See the ''French Wikipedia article,'' [[:fr:Camisole de force|''Camisole de force'']].)

Before the development of [[psychiatric medications]] and talking therapy, doctors did not know how to treat mental disorders such as [[schizophrenia]], [[clinical depression|depression]], and [[anxiety disorder]]s. They attempted [[therapy|treatments]] that are [[cruel]] by modern standards, and the straitjacket was one of them. At the height of its use, doctors considered it more humane than restraints of ropes or chains. It prevented the patient from damaging clothes or furniture, and from injuring self, staff, or fellow inmates.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-151380657/confronting-chaos-today-we-view-early-psychiatric |title=Confronting chaos... early psychiatric treatments |access-date=2011-09-23 |author1=Stephen M. Soreff |author2=Patricia H. Bazemore |date=June 2006 |work=Behavioral Healthcare |archive-date=2013-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131135012/http://www.questia.com/library/1G1-151380657/confronting-chaos-today-we-view-early-psychiatric |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Before the [[American Civil War]], the mentally ill were often in [[poorhouse]]s, [[workhouse]]s, or [[prison]]s when their families could no longer care for them. Patients were forced to live with [[criminal]]s and treated likewise: locked in a [[prison cell|cell]] or even chained to walls. By the 1860s, Americans wanted to provide better assistance to the less fortunate, including the mentally ill. The number of facilities devoted to the care of people with mental disorders saw a dramatic increase. These facilities, meant to be places of [[Safety|refuge]], were called ''[[insane asylums]]''. Between 1825 and 1865, the number of asylums in the United States increased from nine to sixty-two.

The establishment of asylums did not mean treatment improved. Because doctors did not understand what caused the behavior of their patients, they often listed the possible causes of mental illness as religious excitement, sunstroke, or even reading novels.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}} They believed the patient had lost all control over their morals and strict discipline was necessary to help the patient regain self-control. Asylums often employed straitjackets to restrain patients who could not control themselves.

Many assessors, including Marie Ragone and Diane Fenex, considered straitjackets humane, gentler than prison chains. The restraint seemed to apply little to no pressure to the body or limbs and did not cause skin abrasions. Moreover, straitjackets allowed some freedom of movement. Unlike patients anchored to a chair or bed by straps or handcuffs, those in straitjackets could walk. Some registered nurse specialists even recommended restrained individuals stroll outdoors, thereby reaping the benefits of both control and fresh air.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Despite its popular consideration as humane, straitjackets were misused. Over time, asylums filled with patients and lacked adequate staff to provide proper care. The attendants were often ill-trained to work with the mentally ill and resorted to restraints to maintain order and calm. In fact, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some prisons even used straitjackets to punish or torture inmates.<ref name="Black1926pp241-245">{{Harv|Black|1926|pp=241–245}}</ref>

Modified variants of the garment are still in use. A particular brand of straitjacket is called an "Argentino" suit, manufactured by PSP Argentino Inc. In Canada in 2015, there was a class action lawsuit that won over the misuse of the restraint.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/judiciaire/archives/2011/05/20110512-105958.html|title=Recours collectif contre des mesures de contention|website=tvanouvelles.ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newswire.ca/fr/story/1538189/mesures-de-contention-et-d-isolement-abusives-la-cour-superieure-enterine-une-entente-de-reglement-d-un-recours-collectif-pour-indemniser-des-victimes|title=Mesures de contention et d'isolement abusives : La Cour Supérieure entérine une Entente de règlement d'un recours collectif pour indemniser des victimes de contention abusives|website=www.newswire.ca|access-date=2015-06-06|archive-date=2015-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606204425/http://www.newswire.ca/fr/story/1538189/mesures-de-contention-et-d-isolement-abusives-la-cour-superieure-enterine-une-entente-de-reglement-d-un-recours-collectif-pour-indemniser-des-victimes|url-status=dead}}</ref>