In the preface to his famous Folie et Déraison Michel Foucault suggests:

No such total analysis in the structuralist sense has been attempted here. Nevertheless, the aim has been to reconstruct the history of madness among those treated by the British during ‘John Company's ’ time as completely as surviving sources allow. The treatment of the European and Indian mentally ill in British institutions has been analyzed in relation to colonial ideology, state policy and legislation; the important role of public opinion ‘at home’ and in the colony in the construction of treatment methods and administrative control measures has been highlighted; and the reconcilability of commercial interests, colonial ideology and humanitarian motives has been discussed.

Further, the comparatively early and successful intervention by the colonial state in the ‘lunacy sector’ has been related to the persistent endeavour of Company officials and of the expatriate community more generally to preserve the image of the European elite as formidable and impeccable colonial rulers.