... chronic, indeed ingrained, constitutional, andprobably hereditary? Investigation seemed to showthat madness was passed down from generation togeneration, that society harboured an ‘iceberg’ of ata-vistic ... Foucault, amoun-ted to more than physical sequestration, it also repre-sented the debasement of madness itself. Hitherto, themad had exercised a particular force and fascination,be it as a holy ... privilege of mocking their betters. Institutional-ization, however, maintained Foucault, robbed madness of all such empowering features and reduced it to merenegation, an absence of humanity....