Shellshock and Special Selection

By Olivia Foley and Christopher Sanchez

After arriving in London early on Sunday, struggling to stay awake all day, and finally getting a few hours of restless sleep Sunday night, work began bright and early Monday morning. Our first stop was the Wellcome Library, where we will all be spending much of our time researching our chosen psychologists; Chris will be doing Sir Cyril Burt and I will be doing Charles S. Myers. On Tuesday, our work began at the British Library where we received our readers’ passes. The library is beautiful and quite grand, and will be our other home away from home for the next 4 weeks as we continue our research. 

 http://www.camdenlock.net This is a link to Camden Market, where a few students walked around on the first day! It is similar to an American flea market, but with a spectacular and overwhelming amount of things to see.  There was even a restaurant called Shaka Zulu which serves meals that include crocodile steak and zebra meat.

                          (Picture of the inside of the Shaka Zulu restaurant.)

Charles S. Myers, co-founder of the British Psychological Society, was well known for his many accomplishments, one of which was head psychologist of the British Armies in France, and researching “shell shock”, also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is something a person can experience, such as nightmares or flashbacks, after experiencing a very traumatic event. Myers wrote the first book on “shell shock” in 1915 and was convinced that this disorder could be treated, but after enduring endless amounts of rejection of his idea, he gave up.

                Sir Cyril Burt was also subject to many criticisms due to his work on eugenics.  Eugenics is the study or belief of improving the genetics of the human population.  Burt in particular focused his work on determining the IQ level on what should be considered “special” and what should be considered genius.   In 1913, the Mental Deficiency Act was passed which displaced disabled children out of standard public schools.  After the act was passed, while serving as a part time school psychologist at the University of Liverpool, Burt was given the position to select disabled students from local public schools and relocate them into special schools.  Near and after his death, Burt’s work was subject to much criticism involving the possible fabrication of data on his IQ tests.  It became known that some of Burt’s work involving notes and data were burned and possibly destroyed in a house fire.  Eugenics was also a subject that was more supported when Sir Cyril Burt entered the field, than during the time of his death.