Re‐examining total institutions: a case study from Queensland

Abstract

Abstract Missions and reserves in Queensland dating from the 1880s to early 1980s have specific spatial and physical characteristics that fit Erving Goffman's structural description of ‘total institutions' (1962:74). These specific characteristics, analysed here, include locks, wire mesh enclosed verandahs, barred windows, barbed wire fences, strictly regimented spaces and segregated built environments. Material culture in the forms of photographic evidence, surveyed maps and plans are employed. This kind of primary evidence is used due to the paucity of survival of other more traditional forms of archaeological evidence to answer questions concerning the original layout and built environment of mission and reserve sites. This paper about Queensland challenges the findings of research by Rowse (1993), Lydon (2000) and Trigger (1992, 1985) concerning the application of ‘total institutions' to missions and reserves in Australia. Many missions and reserves in Queensland were total institutions and the spatial and physical environment of these institutions was an attempt at social control over Aboriginal peoples. The physical and spatial environment of missions and reserves in Queensland can be seen as a reflection of power relations in modern society.

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