Parkinson J P
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1981 Dec;15(4):319-22. doi: 10.3109/00048678109159454.
Australia's first lunatic asylum was improvised in a disused convict barracks. The first doctors were themselves convicts, who were in conflict with a sternly moral lay superintendent. Disturbances, including a murder, occurred among the patients. The Governor restored peace by dismissing the superintendent and abolishing the post of resident doctor but deprivation and dirt prevailed until the asylum was transferred to further makeshift quarters. Primitive colonial times demanded improvisation and flexibility, i.e. eclectic pragmatism. Moreover, Government control of psychiatry over many years tended to curb the growth of any one ideology and so fostered the eclecticism which seems characteristic of Australian psychiatry. A colonial resourcefulness is an asset in work where patients' individual differences can defy any one theoretical framework and remedies must be pragmatic.
澳大利亚的第一所疯人院是在一座废弃的罪犯营房里临时改建的。首批医生本身就是罪犯，他们与一位严厉且道德观念很强的非专业主管发生了冲突。病人中发生了骚乱，包括一起谋杀案。总督通过解雇主管并废除驻院医生一职恢复了秩序，但在疯人院迁至其他临时场所之前，匮乏和脏乱的状况一直存在。原始的殖民时代需要临时应变和灵活性，即折衷实用主义。此外，多年来政府对精神病学的管控往往抑制了任何一种单一意识形态的发展，从而促成了澳大利亚精神病学似乎特有的折衷主义。在治疗工作中，患者的个体差异可能会使任何一种理论框架都失效，而治疗方法必须讲求实际，这时，殖民时期的足智多谋就成了一项优势。
