5 - The Insults of Colonial Psychiatry and the Psychological Damage of Colonialism

Summary

During the 1920s, the colonial administration became increasing repressive. Strikes were brutally repressed, demonstrations disbanded, and most nationalist leaders jailed or exiled. In reaction, indigenous political leaders launched a policy of non-cooperation, refusing to participate in the institutions of the colonial state and establishing organisations benefiting the indigenous population. In 1924, two Dutch colonial psychiatrists presented medical theories that portrayed the indigenous population as primitive, child-like, emotional, and gullible. Indies physicians formulated extensive rebuttals. In reaction to the changed political climate, the Association of Indies Physicians became an organisation promoting medical research amongst its members. This change reflected the policy of non-cooperation, as it showcased the medical research conducted by Indies physicians. It also reflected the growing influence of the elite among Indies physicians comprising Indonesian doctors with European medical degrees. This well-educated and research-oriented medical elite exerted a strong influence on the Indonesian medical profession as a whole.