• HOME
• THE LANGUAGE OF MADNESS
• THE ASYLUM
• • Asylum Design
  • Patient Buildings
• SOCIETY
• • Urban & Rural Life
  • Class & Gender
  • The Hysterical Female
  • The Evils of "Self-Abuse"
  • Family
  • Visitors
• LEGISLATION
• • Legislative Influence
  • Origins of Legislation and the Criminality of Insanity
  • Teenaged Years: Marked Custody Transition
  • Turn of the Century: Voluntary Admissions
  • Updated Act: The Mental Hospital Act
• SUPERINTENDANTS
• STAFF
• • Working at the LAI
  • Hiring Practices
  • Rules for Employees
  • Employee Roles in Moral Therapy
  • Doctors at LAI
  • Doctor Connections to UWO
  • Training School for Nurses
  • Attendants
  • General Staff
• PATIENT PERSPECTIVES
• • Introduction
  • Patient Art
  • Patient Letters
  • Their Voice
• MEDICAL TREATMENTS
• • Medical Treatment Introduction
  • Use of Restraints
  • Drug and Alcohol
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Female Surgeries
  • Neurosyphilis
  • Shock Therapy
  • Lobotomies
• MORAL THERAPY
• • Moral Therapy Introduction
  • Labour
  • Amusements
  • Diet
  • Religion
• THE WORLD WARS
• • Before the First World War
  • During the First World War
  • After the First World War
  • The First World War and the LAI
  • First World War Veterans at the LAI
  • The Second World War
• MEMORIES OF RMHCL
• • Introduction
  • Their Memories

Rules for Employees of the London Asylum

'Province of Ontario Official Rules and Regulations for the Guidance of Officers and Employees of the Provincial Hospitals for the Insane,' 1908. RMHCL

In 1908, the Province of Ontario released a rulebook entitled Province of Ontario: Official Rules and Regulations for the Guidance of Officers and Employees of the Provincial Hospitals for the Insane. These rules were intended to set a standard for care and guide the staff of asylums in Ontario.

Employees of the LAI were expected to provide a positive example to patients. Staff members were expected to refrain from drinking, sexual promiscuity, and disruptive behaviour. Strict curfews were in place for all residents and misconduct was severely reprimanded. In a speech to employees in 1878, Dr. R. Maurice Bucke outlined these rules for his staff:

• You must keep sober
• You must not be absent without leave
• You must not strike or insult a patient
• You must be honest and tell the truth
• You must be civil to everyone, and respectful and obedient to those who are in the position of your superiors
• You must not be guilty of anything approaching immorality