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The killing of new-born children is an intensely emotional and emotive subject. The hidden nature of this crime has made it an area incredibly difficult subject area for historians to approach up until now. This work provides the first detailed history of infanticide in mainland Britain from 1600 to the modern era.
Scotland has often been regarded throughout history as "the violent north", but how true is this statement? Does Scotland deserve to be defined thus, and upon what foundations is this definition based? This book examines the history of crime in Scotland, questioning the labelling of Scotland as home to a violent culture and examining changes in violent behaviour over time, the role of religion on violence, how gender impacted on violence and how the level of Scottish violence fares when compared to incidents of violence throughout the rest of the UK. This book offers a ground-breaking contribution to the historiography of Scottish crime. Not only does the piece illuminate for the first time, the nature and incidence of Scottish criminality over the course of some three hundred years, but it also employs a more integrated analysis of gender than has hitherto been evident. This book sheds light on whether the stereotypical label given to Scotland as 'the violent north' is appropriate or in any way accurate, and it further contributes to our understanding of not only Scottish society, but of the history of crime and punishment in the British Isles and beyond.
The killing of new-born children is an intensely emotional and emotive subject. The hidden nature of this crime has made it an area incredibly difficult subject area for historians to approach up until now. This work provides the first detailed history of infanticide in mainland Britain from 1600 to the modern era.
Providing a rounded and coherent history of crime and the law spanning the past 400 years, Histories of Crime explores the evolution of attitudes towards crime and criminality over time. Bringing together contributions from internationally acknowledged experts, the book highlights themes, current issues and key debates in the history of deviance and bad behaviour, including: - Marital cruelty and adultery - Infanticide - Murder - The underworld - Blasphemy and moral crimes - Fraud and white-collar crime - The death penalty and punishment. Individual case studies of violent and non-violent crime are used to explore the human means and motives behind criminal practice. Through these, the book illuminates society's wider attitudes and fears about criminal behaviour and the way in which these influence the law and legal system over time. This fascinating book is essential reading for students and teachers of history, sociology and criminology, as well as anyone interested in Britain's criminal past.
Law, Crime and Deviance since 1700 explores the potential for the 'micro-study' approach to the history of crime and legal history. A selection of in-depth narrative micro-studies are featured to illustrate specific issues associated with the theme of crime and the law in historical context. The methodology used unpacks the wider historiographical and contextual issues related to each thematic area and facilitates discussion of the wider implications for the history of crime and social relations. The case studies in the volume cover a range of incidents relating to crime, law and deviant behaviour since 1700, from policing vice in Victorian London to chain gang narratives from the southern United States. The book concludes by demonstrating how these narratives can be brought together to produce a more nuanced history of the area and suggests avenues for future research and study.
Adopting a microhistory approach, Fair and Unfair Trials in the British Isles, 1800-1940 provides an in-depth examination of the evolution of the modern justice system. Drawing upon criminal cases and trials from England, Scotland, and Ireland, the book examines the errors, procedural systems, and the ways in which adverse influences of social and cultural forces impacted upon individual instances of justice. The book investigates several case studies of both justice and injustice which prompted the development of forensic toxicology, the implementation of state propaganda and an increased interest in press sensationalism. One such case study considers the trial of William Sheen, who was pro...
This book attempts to challenge the canonical gender concept while trying to specify what gender was in the medieval and early modern world. It tests, verifies, and challenges the methodology and use the concept(s) of gender specifically applicable to the period of great change and transition. The volume contains theoretical discussion supplemented by case studies of specific practices such as mysticism, witchcraft, crime, and sexual behavior.
A complete reappraisal of the scale and significance of female criminality in a period of major legislative changes. This book offers important new insights into the relationship between crime and gender in Scotland during the Enlightenment period. Against the backdrop of significant legislative changes that fundamentally altered the face of Scots law, Anne-Marie Kilday examines contemporary attitudes towards serious offences against the person committed by women. She draws particularly on rich and varied court records to explores female criminality and judicial responses to it in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.Through a series of case studies of homicide, infanticide, assault...
This book offers important new insights into the relationship between crime and gender in Scotland during the Enlightenment period. Drawing on rich and varied court records, it explores female criminality and judicial responses to it in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, against the backdrop of significant legislative changes that fundamentally altered the face of Scots law. Using a series of case studies of homicide, infanticide, assault, popular disturbances and robbery, the author argues that Scottish women were more predisposed to violence than their counterparts south of the border, and considers how far this intersected with and reflected a wider drive to `civilise' popular behaviour and to promote a more ordered society. Challenging feminist interpretations that see women principally as the victims of male-controlled economies, institutions, and power structures, the book calls for a major re-evaluation of the scope and significance of female criminality in this era. ANNE-MARIE KILDAY is Principal Lecturer and Head of the Department of History at Oxford Brookes University.
A wide-ranging, thematic survey of women's history in Britain in the 18th and early 19th centuries, with chapters written by both well-established writers and new and dynamic scholars in a thorough and well-balanced selection.