Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an early nineteenth century lunatic asylum in Palermo, Italy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is informed by Foucault’s studies of lunatic asylums and his work on governmentality which gave prominence to the role of statistics, the “science of the State”. Findings – This paper identifies a number of roles played by accounting in the management of the lunatic asylum studied. Most importantly, information which formed the basis of accounting reports was used to describe, classify and give visibility and measurability to the “deviance” of the insane. It also legitimated the role played by lunatic asylums, as entrusted to them in post-Napoleonic early nineteenth century society, and was a tool to mediate with the public authorities to provide adequate resources for the institution to operate. Research limitations/implications – This paper encourages accounting scholars to engage more widely with socio-historical research that will encompass organisations such as lunatic asylums. Originality/value – This paper provides, for the first time, a case of accounting applied to a lunatic asylum from a socio-historical perspective. Keywords Accounting, Foucault, Italy, Insane asylum, Moral therapy Paper type Research paper

Funnell, W., ANTONELLI, V., D'ALESSIO, R., ROSSI, R. (2017). Accounting for madness: the "Real Casa dei Matti" of Palermo 1824-1860. ACCOUNTING, AUDITING & ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNAL, 30, 1111-1141 [10.1108/AAAJ-05-2015-2047].

Accounting for madness: the "Real Casa dei Matti" of Palermo 1824-1860

ROSSI, Roberto
Writing – Review & Editing
2017-01-01

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by accounting in managing an early nineteenth century lunatic asylum in Palermo, Italy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is informed by Foucault’s studies of lunatic asylums and his work on governmentality which gave prominence to the role of statistics, the “science of the State”. Findings – This paper identifies a number of roles played by accounting in the management of the lunatic asylum studied. Most importantly, information which formed the basis of accounting reports was used to describe, classify and give visibility and measurability to the “deviance” of the insane. It also legitimated the role played by lunatic asylums, as entrusted to them in post-Napoleonic early nineteenth century society, and was a tool to mediate with the public authorities to provide adequate resources for the institution to operate. Research limitations/implications – This paper encourages accounting scholars to engage more widely with socio-historical research that will encompass organisations such as lunatic asylums. Originality/value – This paper provides, for the first time, a case of accounting applied to a lunatic asylum from a socio-historical perspective. Keywords Accounting, Foucault, Italy, Insane asylum, Moral therapy Paper type Research paper
2017
Funnell, W., ANTONELLI, V., D'ALESSIO, R., ROSSI, R. (2017). Accounting for madness: the "Real Casa dei Matti" of Palermo 1824-1860. ACCOUNTING, AUDITING & ACCOUNTABILITY JOURNAL, 30, 1111-1141 [10.1108/AAAJ-05-2015-2047].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
AAAJ-RCM Palermo.pdf

Solo gestori archvio

Descrizione: Articolo principale
Tipologia: Versione Editoriale
Dimensione 778.03 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
778.03 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/634035
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 14
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 14
social impact