Esther Lucile Brown was a

social anthropologist Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

. She studied the

professions A profession is a field of work that has been successfully professionalized. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public ...

while working at the

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her re ...

Personal life

Brown was born and grew up in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. She never married, but had two goddaughters.

Career

Brown said that she was very influenced by

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

to the degree that she considered the two fields to be joined. Brown studied the work of professions including engineering, nursing, law, social work and medicine and became head of the newly created Department of Studies in the Professions at the Russell Sage Foundation. At the Russell Sage Foundation, Brown was responsible for encouraging social anthropologists and sociologists to undertake teaching and research in medical settings. Since the 1930s, Brown argued that nurses should be aware of patients' cultural backgrounds to improve care. She was asked to study the nursing profession following the nursing shortages of World War II, resulting in the publication of the report ''Nursing for the Future.'' In the 1970s, Brown argued for more academic specialism within medicine, publishing ''Nursing Reconsidered: A Study of Change''. Brown studied psychiatric hospitals in the 1950s with Greenblatt and York, resulting in the publication of ''From Custodial to Therapeutic Care in Mental Hospitals'', which was influential in the movement towards community treatment of those diagnosed with mental health disorders.

References

Social anthropologists Medical sociologists Yale University alumni 1898 births 1990 deaths People from Manchester, New Hampshire {{Socio-stub

Personal life

Career

See also

References