Throughout our semester so far, we’ve talked a lot about interesting figures would I would say had a lot of effect on psychology today. Even though this isn’t a psychology class, we’ve been given the chance to come up with our own topic and do research on that. What I chose is the psychiatric practices that were endured during World War II; specifically in Nazi Germany. When we went on our trip to the Holocaust museum in DC, I learned a lot of new information about what practices were implemented on disabled patients, which were then carried on through the rest of the “non-elite” German population. I really want to learn exactly what they did in Germany during that time and how it affected patients.
For a while now, I’ve been very interested in Psychiatry/psychology, so this really grasped my attention in the museum. It made me wonder, what other horrific practices went on in psychiatric hospitals back then. I needed something that wasn’t too broad, like psychiatric practices in World War II, but I also needed something that wasn’t too narrow either, like the sterilization of the disabled in hospitals. I think the topic I chose is a perfect area that will give me a chance to get lots of information and not feel too limited. There are plenty of directions I could take this project and a lot of information not only online but in museums as well. I decided to really give the project my all and revisit the Holocaust museum to give it my full undivided attention this time. As of right now, I will be using the museum and the online archives for my sources. If needed, I may end up taking a trip to the Shapell Center to get more information, but as stated on their website, most things are available online. For now, those are my sources since there a hundreds of documents available to the public.
Where I plan to source my information: US Holocaust museum, US Holocaust museum archives, National Library of Medicine, and our library at UMW. I most likely will end up doing more research online and source those websites in my final paper.