Book ID: CBB406081958

Medicine, the Penal System and Sexual Crimes in England, 1919-1960s: Diagnosing Deviance (2017)

unapi

Weston, Janet (Author)


Bloomsbury Academic


Publication Date: 2017
Physical Details: 216 pp.
Language: English

Sexual crime, past and present, is rarely far from the headlines. How these crimes are punished, policed and understood has changed considerably over the last century. From hormone injections to cognitive behavioural therapy, medical and psychological approaches to sexual offenders have proliferated. This book sets out the history of such theories and treatments in England. Beginning in the early 20th century, it traces the evolution of medical interest in the mental state of those convicted of sexual crime. As part of a broader interest in individualised responses to crime as a means to rehabilitation, doctors offered new explanations for some sexual crimes, proposed new solutions, and attempted to deliver new cures. From indecent exposure to homosexuality between men, from sadistic violence to thefts of underwear from washing lines, the interpretation and treatment of some sexual offences was thought to be complex. Of less medical interest, though, were offences against children, prostitution, and rape. Using a range of material, including medical and criminological texts, trial proceedings, government reports, newspapers, and autobiographies and memoirs, Janet Weston offers powerful insights into changing medico-legal practices and attitudes towards sex and health. She highlights the importance of prison doctors and rehabilitative programmes within prisons, psychoanalytically-minded private practitioners, and the interactions between medical and legal systems as medical theories were put into practice. She also reveals the extent and legacy of medical thought, as well as the limitations of a medical approach to sexual crime.

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Reviewed By

Review Barry Reay (2019) Review of "Medicine, the Penal System and Sexual Crimes in England, 1919-1960s: Diagnosing Deviance". American Historical Review (p. 1525). unapi

Review Harry Cocks (2019) Review of "Medicine, the Penal System and Sexual Crimes in England, 1919-1960s: Diagnosing Deviance". History of Psychiatry (pp. 128-130). unapi

Review Simon A. Cole (2018) Review of "Medicine, the Penal System and Sexual Crimes in England, 1919-1960s: Diagnosing Deviance". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 714-716). unapi

Review Karen Walloch (2018) Review of "Medicine, the Penal System and Sexual Crimes in England, 1919-1960s: Diagnosing Deviance". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 869-870). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB406081958/

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Authors & Contributors
Sharman Levinson
Degerman, Dan
Bisbee, Paul
Farrell, Patrick
Seabourne, Gwen
Taline Garibian
Concepts
Psychology
Crime
Mental disorders and diseases
Psychotropic drugs
Medicine and law
Sexual behavior
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, early
21st century
Medieval
Places
United States
England
Montreal (Quebec, Canada)
Netherlands
Switzerland
Norway
Institutions
HM Pentonville Prison (The Ville)
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