Necessary conjunctions: Hawkspur Camp and the transdisciplinary roots of therapeutic community
Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities
ISSN: 0964-1866
Article publication date: 20 November 2023
Issue publication date: 28 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to tell something of the story of the “Hawkspur Experiment” (1936–1941), a therapeutic camp organised early in the modern history of therapeutic community as an intervention into the lives of young men who were viewed to be at risk of delinquency (Wills, 1967). Although it was to have a remarkable influence on group and therapeutic community practice and theory, the authors argue that its influence is not as well-remembered nor incorporated into contemporary therapeutic understanding and discussion as it should be.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a historical reflection based on systematic examination of the clinical and administrative records of Hawkspur Camp for men, and supporting documents held in the Planned Environment Therapy Archive. In addition, the authors use published primary and secondary sources.
Findings
Hawkspur Camp was a cross-disciplinary enterprise which brought together psychoanalytic thinking, social work, an interest in groups, political activism, a concern with the dynamics and working of democracy and the application of emergent social science methods. It was overtly an intervention into the criminal justice system but was also an intentional exploration of the therapeutic benefits of community living and of a “pioneering” lifestyle; a rigorous experiment in how psychoanalytic ideas might be used in group residential settings; and a politically grounded exploration of participative democracy as a fundamental therapeutic principle.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents the first findings from a systematic study of the records of Hawkspur Camp.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the British Academy grant “Charting the links between community therapies, psychiatric diagnosis and mental health policy: A study of the archives of Hawkspur Camp (1936–1940) and Mulberry Bush School (1948–2000)”. Essential help was given by Belinda Boyes, who provided supplementary cataloguing; to the Planned Environment Therapy Trust Archive and Study Centre team; and to the staff of its successor, the Planned Environment Therapy Archive at MB3 in Gloucestershire, where the records of Hawkspur Camp are held.
Citation
Jones, D.W. and Fees, C. (2023), "Necessary conjunctions: Hawkspur Camp and the transdisciplinary roots of therapeutic community", Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 73-86. https://doi.org/10.1108/TC-03-2023-0005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited