Women Who Kill: An Analysis of Cases in Late Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century London

Autor:	Kathy Callahan
Rok vydání:	2013
Předmět:	History Sociology and Political Science media_common.quotation_subject Poison control Convict Discretion Suicide prevention Interpersonal relationship Homicide Law Capital (economics) Psychology media_common Criminal justice
Zdroj:	Journal of Social History. 46:1013-1038
ISSN:	1527-1897 0022-4529
DOI:	10.1093/jsh/sht004
Popis:	In late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century London, the number of women prosecuted for murder was quite small with only forty women reaching the felony court at the Old Bailey for trial between 1783 and 1815. Despite the small number of prosecutions, the cases do reveal important information about gender and criminal justice. Accusations demonstrate difficulties women had with a wide range of interpersonal relationships, their lives in the city, in addition to domestic and substance abuse. Sentencing patterns, too, are illuminating. For those women found guilty, the courts often hesitated to convict to the fullest extent of the law. Juries and judges presiding in homicide cases in London regularly employed discretion when making their decisions, demonstrating that they apparently heavily weighed numerous personal factors presented in trial. While the law gave judges substantial leeway in capital case sentencing, juries and judges focused their full convictions and harshest penalties, capital punishment, on women who violated important gender-based behavioral expectations.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::db75ba22d7847fb59811aed2ba190fad https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/sht004 Zobrazit plný text záznamu Plný text ve formátu PDF