Stefanie Coché is a historian at the Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen. Her research interests are history of psychiatry, religious history, German history, and American history.

• 1. Historical Parameters of Committal Practice—Psychiatry, State, and Society to 1941 2. The State and Psychiatric Institutions—Parameters and Committal Decisions 3. Danger and Security: On the Practice of Compulsory Committal 4. Disease and Diagnostics—Medical Aspects of Committal 5. Work and Performance—Ability and Inability to Work in Committal Rationales 6. Conclusion.

Stefanie Coché is a historian at the Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen. Her research interests are history of psychiatry, religious history, German history, and American history.

• 1. Historical Parameters of Committal Practice—Psychiatry, State, and Society to 1941 2. The State and Psychiatric Institutions—Parameters and Committal Decisions 3. Danger and Security: On the Practice of Compulsory Committal 4. Disease and Diagnostics—Medical Aspects of Committal 5. Work and Performance—Ability and Inability to Work in Committal Rationales 6. Conclusion.