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Criminal Conversations: Victorian Crimes, Social Panic, and Moral Outrage
In this Book
Additional Information
Criminal Conversations: Victorian Crimes, Social Panic, and Moral Outrage
Book
Judith Rowbothan
Kim Stevenson
2005
Published by:
The Ohio State University Press
Table of Contents
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summary
In the climate of social panics that characterized so much of the Victorian period, there was keen consciousness of the threats a variety of crimes posed to social stability. Conversations about crime, particularly via the media, were a major feature of Victorian Britain’s daily life, and it was through such conversations that people learned about the nature of crime and criminality, as well as about the individuals who committed crimes or were merely guilty of socially offensive conduct or “bad” behavior. The essays in this book set out to explore the ways in which Victorians used newspapers to identify the causes of bad behavior and its impacts, and the ways in which they tried to “distance” criminals and those guilty of “bad” behavior from the ordinary members of society, including identification of them as different according to race or sexual orientation. It also explores how threats from within “normal” society were depicted and the panic that issues like “baby-farming” caused. Victorian alarm was about crimes and bad behavior which they saw as new or unique to their period—but which were not new then and which, in slightly different dress, are still causing panic today. What is striking about the essays in this collection are the ways they echo contemporary concerns about crime and bad behavior, including panics about “new” types of crime. This has implications for modern understandings of how society needs to understand crime, demonstrating that while there are changes over time, there are also important continuities.
Table of Contents
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Cover
Cover
Cover
Title Page, Copyright Page
Title Page, Copyright Page
Title Page, Copyright Page
Table of Contents
pp. v-vi
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
pp. vii-viii
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
p. ix
List of Illustrations
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
p. x
List of Tables
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
pp. xi-xii
List of Abbreviations
List of Abbreviations
Table of Cases
pp. xiii-xiv
Table of Cases
Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
pp. xv-xvi
Table of Statutes
Table of Statutes
Contributors
pp. xvii-xx
Contributors
Contributors
Introduction
Judith Rowbotham, Kim Stevenson
pp. xxi-xxxiv
Introduction
Introduction
Section One: Identifying the Causes and Impacts of Bad Behavior
pp. 1-2
Section One: Identifying the Causes and Impacts of Bad Behavior
Section One: Identifying the Causes and Impacts of Bad Behavior
1. Beyond the Bounds of Respectable Society: The "Dangerous Classes" in Victorian and Edwardian England
David Taylor
pp. 3-22
1. Beyond the Bounds of Respectable Society: The "Dangerous Classes" in Victorian and Edwardian England
1. Beyond the Bounds of Respectable Society: The "Dangerous Classes" in Victorian and Edwardian England
2. The Press and the Public Visibility of Nineteenth-Century Criminal Children
Jane Abbott
pp. 23-39
2. The Press and the Public Visibility of Nineteenth-Century Criminal Children
2. The Press and the Public Visibility of Nineteenth-Century Criminal Children
3. Religion, Rural Society, and Moral Panic in Mid-Victorian England
Gary Moses
pp. 40-54
3. Religion, Rural Society, and Moral Panic in Mid-Victorian England
3. Religion, Rural Society, and Moral Panic in Mid-Victorian England
4. A Victorian Financial Crisis: The Scandalous Implications of the Case of Overend Gurney
Paul Barnes
pp. 55-69
4. A Victorian Financial Crisis: The Scandalous Implications of the Case of Overend Gurney
4. A Victorian Financial Crisis: The Scandalous Implications of the Case of Overend Gurney
5. Larceny: Debating the "Boundless Region of Dishonesty"
Graham Ferris
pp. 70-88
5. Larceny: Debating the "Boundless Region of Dishonesty"
5. Larceny: Debating the "Boundless Region of Dishonesty"
Section Two: "External" Threats to the Security of Society
pp. 89-90
Section Two: "External" Threats to the Security of Society
Section Two: "External" Threats to the Security of Society
6. Criminal Savages? Or "Civilizing" the Legal Process
Judith Rowbotham
pp. 91-105
6. Criminal Savages? Or "Civilizing" the Legal Process
6. Criminal Savages? Or "Civilizing" the Legal Process
7. Behaving Badly? Irish Migrants and Crime in the Victorian City
Roger Swift
pp. 106-125
7. Behaving Badly? Irish Migrants and Crime in the Victorian City
7. Behaving Badly? Irish Migrants and Crime in the Victorian City
8. Striking at Sodom and Gomorrah: The Medicalization of Male Homosexuality and Its Relation to the Law
Ivan Crozier
pp. 126-139
8. Striking at Sodom and Gomorrah: The Medicalization of Male Homosexuality and Its Relation to the Law
8. Striking at Sodom and Gomorrah: The Medicalization of Male Homosexuality and Its Relation to the Law
9. A Mania for Suspicion: Poisoning, Science, and the Law
Tony Ward
pp. 140-156
9. A Mania for Suspicion: Poisoning, Science, and the Law
9. A Mania for Suspicion: Poisoning, Science, and the Law
10. A Little of What You Fancy Does You . . . Harm!! (with Apologies to Marie Lloyd)
Sandra Morton
pp. 157-178
10. A Little of What You Fancy Does You . . . Harm!! (with Apologies to Marie Lloyd)
10. A Little of What You Fancy Does You . . . Harm!! (with Apologies to Marie Lloyd)
Section Three: The Threat From Within
pp. 179-180
Section Three: The Threat From Within
Section Three: The Threat From Within
11. The Eloquent Corpse: Gender, Probity, and Bodily Integrity in Victorian Domestic Murder
Shani D’Cruze
pp. 181-197
11. The Eloquent Corpse: Gender, Probity, and Bodily Integrity in Victorian Domestic Murder
11. The Eloquent Corpse: Gender, Probity, and Bodily Integrity in Victorian Domestic Murder
12. She-Butchers: Baby-Droppers, Baby-Sweaters, and Baby-Farmers
David Bentley
pp. 198-214
12. She-Butchers: Baby-Droppers, Baby-Sweaters, and Baby-Farmers
12. She-Butchers: Baby-Droppers, Baby-Sweaters, and Baby-Farmers
13. Sex, Wives, and Prostitutes: Debating Clarence
Kate Gleeson
pp. 215-231
13. Sex, Wives, and Prostitutes: Debating Clarence
13. Sex, Wives, and Prostitutes: Debating Clarence
14. "Crimes of Moral Outrage": Victorian Encryptions of Sexual Violence
Kim Stevenson
pp. 232-246
14. "Crimes of Moral Outrage": Victorian Encryptions of Sexual Violence
14. "Crimes of Moral Outrage": Victorian Encryptions of Sexual Violence
15. "Kicked, Beaten, Jumped On until They Are Crushed," All under Man's Wing and Protection: The Victorian Dilemma with Domestic Violence
Susan Edwards
pp. 247-266
15. "Kicked, Beaten, Jumped On until They Are Crushed," All under Man's Wing and Protection: The Victorian Dilemma with Domestic Violence
15. "Kicked, Beaten, Jumped On until They Are Crushed," All under Man's Wing and Protection: The Victorian Dilemma with Domestic Violence
Epilogue
Judith Rowbotham, Kim Stevenson
pp. 267-272
Epilogue
Epilogue
Appendix
pp. 273-300
Appendix
Appendix
Selected Further Reading
pp. 301-304
Selected Further Reading
Selected Further Reading
Index
pp. 305-318
Index
Index
Additional Information
ISBN
9780814272909
Related ISBN(s)
9780814209738
MARC Record
OCLC
654152693
Pages
318
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
Open Access
Yes
Purchase
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