Dangerous Men: Psychiatry, Psychopathy, and Institutional Drift in Denmark, 1918–1962

In 1918, Denmark opened its first high-security ward for the ‘most dangerous criminally insane and feebleminded men’. Between 1918 and 1962, 203 men were admitted to the institution. This article investigates the discussions that led to the founding of the ward and examines the social and diagnostic profiles of its inmates. Drawing on patient records and archival sources from the Danish National Archives, it traces the ward’s emergence, institutional development, and patient composition. Special attention is given to inmates diagnosed with psychopathy—a category not originally targeted by the institution, but which came to dominate its population. I argue that the expansion of psychiatric authority was not a primary goal for Danish psychiatrists, nor was the treatment of psychopathy. Yet the institution became a reluctant but integral part of psychiatry. Its role has only grown in recent years, as the number of patients under forensic psychiatric measures has increased significantly.