article_snippet: its first Superintendent Sir William Ellis, and later Superintendent Sir James Crichton-Browne, actually paved the way for ethical treatment of the mentally ill.
article_snippet: While some of the treatment looks barbaric to modern eyes, in fact the centre pioneered the way for ethical treatment of the mentally ill .
article_snippet: At that time Dr Samuel Best who superintended York asylum regarded the mentally ill as less than human, and while in the asylum inmates were denied access to religion and God. '
article_snippet: The Retreat is still famous today for having pioneered the humane treatment and moral treatment that became a model for asylums around the world.'
highlights_snippet: While some pictures may appear barbaric to modern eyes, some pictures asylum actually led the way in ethical treatment .
  