‘Do You Have a Frog to Guide You?’: Exploring the ‘Asylum’ Spaces of R. D. Laing

Abstract

Using the example of Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, this chapter argues that alternative conceptualisations of therapeutic ‘asylum’ spaces (real and material, imagined and envisioned) matter in the exploration of the deinstitutionalisation process. Concentrating on Laing’s time spent at the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and his part in the development of the therapeutic communities of the Philadelphia Association (PA) during the 1960s, this piece illuminates an underexplored dimension to his studies. Beginning with a discussion of Laing’s blueprint for a true asylum this chapter examines investigations of familial worlds. Finally, through exploring the therapeutic pursuits of the PA, including the Archway Community, this chapter demonstrates the importance of investigating alternative spaces of asylum in the deinstitutionalised landscape, from their very imagining to their physical foundations.