Everyday Violence in Britain, 1850-1950
Gender and Class
- Editore:
Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Collana:
- Women And Men In History
- EAN:
9780582419070
- ISBN:
0582419077
- Pagine:
- 246
- Formato:
- Paperback
- Lingua:
- Inglese
Descrizione Everyday Violence in Britain, 1850-1950
WOMEN AND MEN IN HISTORY Tabloid headlines and television coverage portray a society in which violence is everywhere - in city centres and country lanes, outside sports grounds, in the home, schools and hospitals. Increased prosperity appears to have done nothing to stop the rise in violent crime, while new patterns of drinking and drug-taking put unremitting pressure on the forces of law and order. With the public both repelled by and caught up in the media images of violence presented to it every day, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that British society has never been without violence or the problem of regulating it. The present high profile of violence makes it vital to understand how and why it occurred in the past, in order to gain some historical perspective on one of contemporary society's greatest preoccupations. This book looks at the historical experience of violence, and at the ways in which it has been used as a means of gaining power in social relations. It examines how violent behaviour has been used by some social groups against others, the way in which institutions, politicians and the professions have treated violence, and how it has been represented in literature and wider culture. The book opens up debate about patterns of violence within specific classes and social groups, and relates it to class, age and sex. The key issues are concisely and convincingly explained - the association of 'everyday' violence with the working classes and the implications of seeing that particular class as culprits; the place of violence in relations between the sexes and the identification of domestic violence as a social evil; how private acts of violence were brought out into the public realms of justice and ethical debate, and the legitimacy of professionals when they intervened in the lives of families and communities. Other themes include: # the inadequate recording and reporting of taboo crimes, such as sexual attacks on women# the phenomenon of infanticide # codes of masculinity and femininity in the notorious nineteenth century youth gangs# the role of alcohol # attacks on authority. The book questions assumptions of victimhood, and stresses the potential of individual action by examining campaigns against violence. This volume considers the different debates around violence between 1850 and 1950, including perspectives influenced by cultural studies and critical theory. This study is indispensable for those interested in the history of violence, and is highly relevant to the social history of Britain. SHANI D'CRUZE is Reader in Women's History at Manchester Metropolitan University.
