Preliminary Programme

Wed 30 March
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Thu 31 March
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Fri 1 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Sat 2 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

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Wednesday 30 March 2016 16.30 - 18.30
F-4 CRI04 Crime and Gender, 1600-1900: a European Perspective
Aula 3, Nivel 0
Networks: Criminal Justice , Women and Gender Chair: Manon van der Heijden
Organizer: Marion Pluskota Discussant: Pamela Cox
Jeannette Kamp : Female Crime and Household Control in Early Modern Frankfurt
Historians working on crime and gender in the early modern period have argued that the urban context had a considerable influence on women’s involvement in crime. In the city women had a higher share in registered crimes than in the countryside and areas with higher urbanization rates showed a higher ... (Show more)
Historians working on crime and gender in the early modern period have argued that the urban context had a considerable influence on women’s involvement in crime. In the city women had a higher share in registered crimes than in the countryside and areas with higher urbanization rates showed a higher proportion of female offenders than regions less urbanized (Beattie 1975; Shoemaker 1991; Van der Heijden 2014). Scholars have argued that this pattern was a result of the different nature of women’s life in the city, which was believed to be more public, more independent and more vulnerable at the same time. For migrant women, the loss of traditional social support and control networks increased their vulnerability at times of crises and made them more visible to the urban authorities (Shoemaker 1991; Moch 2003). In Germany however, the position of women in the city was much more restricted than that of their Dutch or English counterparts, due to strongly enforced patriarchal norms and household control (Wiesner 1986; Rublack 1999; Ogilvie 2003). Thus, even migrant women were much more confined to the disciplining sphere of the Haus. This paper will investigate how this patriarchal structure affected female crime patterns in Frankfurt and question its role in different types of crimes. (Show less)

Sanne Muurling : Violence and Gender in the Mid-18th Century: a Comparison between Bologna and Rotterdam
Although an undeniable minority in statistical terms, women’s violence was a constant phenomenon in the early modern period. Nevertheless, with historiography traditionally focussing on women as victims or at most as accomplices in what is perceived as a ‘male crime’, the violent transgressions by female offenders remain a largely unexplored ... (Show more)
Although an undeniable minority in statistical terms, women’s violence was a constant phenomenon in the early modern period. Nevertheless, with historiography traditionally focussing on women as victims or at most as accomplices in what is perceived as a ‘male crime’, the violent transgressions by female offenders remain a largely unexplored issue. Recently scholars have started questioning the persisting stereotypes surrounding women and violence regarding the overall passivity and lack of autonomy as protagonists, the female inclination towards verbal rather than physical violence and the notion of sexual honour as an exclusive incentive. Based on the criminal proceedings from Bologna’s Tribunale del Torrone, this paper aims to examine gender differences and similarities in the described motives for violent transgression (manslaughter, assaults, fights, verbal insults and threats) by men and women within the spaces in which they occurred. Taking into account the spatial, temporal and social aspects of the urban landscape, it aims to nuance notions about women’s passivity and to illustrate the need for a more complex understanding of male and female honour and identity in everyday conflict in the early modern period. (Show less)

Marion Pluskota : National Legal Systems, Regional Fears and Local Criminals: Explaining Gender Differences in Criminality in 19th Century Europe
This paper will look at men and women's criminality in four different cities: Bologna, Amsterdam, London and Le Havre and compare the changing patterns of criminality and prosecution over the 19th century. We already know that crimes rates varied according to time and place but the factors influencing these variations ... (Show more)
This paper will look at men and women's criminality in four different cities: Bologna, Amsterdam, London and Le Havre and compare the changing patterns of criminality and prosecution over the 19th century. We already know that crimes rates varied according to time and place but the factors influencing these variations have not been studied in depth and even less so in a comparative manner, which allows a better understanding of the impact of each variable. The paper will start with a presentation of the male and female crime rates in these different urban settings. It will then be argued that one reason for the fluctuations in crime rates was linked with the implementation of a codified legal system at the start of the nineteenth century. The penal code had an impact on the way the courts (in this study, the correctional courts) treated the offenders: the gender bias, which could be seen in a common law system, such as in London, did not occur in a legally codified setting, as the criminal laws were not gendered (adultery excepted) and the discretion of the magistrates was limited. Whereas the code of civil laws, also implemented under Napoleon, gave a greater role to the male figure of the household and reinforced patriarchal values, the criminal laws and code of penal instruction did not imply such a gender bias for the most common offences, against the person and against property. However, as it will be shown, despite magistrates’ limited discretion, patterns of prosecution can still be profiled in relation to the concerns of the regional elite and the behaviour of local criminals. (Show less)

Ariadne Schmidt, Jaco Zuijderduijn : Comparative Perspectives on Crime: London and Amsterdam in the Early Modern Period
In the early modern period the participation of women in crime was larger than in modern times and female criminality appeared to be a typical urban phenomenon. In the largest cities of Europe, the proportion of women involved in criminality was remarkably large. However, little attention has been paid to ... (Show more)
In the early modern period the participation of women in crime was larger than in modern times and female criminality appeared to be a typical urban phenomenon. In the largest cities of Europe, the proportion of women involved in criminality was remarkably large. However, little attention has been paid to the possible differentiation and fluctuations in female crime rates in the early modern period in various towns. The research presented here explores the relation between urbanization and female crime in the early modern period. The aim is to come to a more differentiated view of female criminality by looking at female crime in early modern cities from a comparative perspective, focusing on London and Amsterdam. Were the high female crime rates a more or less logical outcome of the metropolitan character of London and Amsterdam? And if so, did this lead to a stereotypical metropolitan female criminal responsible for committing typical urban female crimes? Or were the patterns of female criminality more differentiated and related to the local contexts? And if so, what can these differences tell us about the underlying mechanisms, such as economic cycles, migration, social position of men and women, and (legal) culture? Is it, in other words, possible to make a typology of cities of crime? (Show less)

Clare Wilkinson : Dutch Newspaper Reporting of Sex Crimes, 1918-1939
Historians have seen the interwar period in many Western countries as characterized by a focus on domesticity, the dominance of a conservative morality and a corresponding heightened concern with the regulation of sexuality outside of marriage. This was expressed for example in more vigilant policing of homosexuality, social anxiety about ... (Show more)
Historians have seen the interwar period in many Western countries as characterized by a focus on domesticity, the dominance of a conservative morality and a corresponding heightened concern with the regulation of sexuality outside of marriage. This was expressed for example in more vigilant policing of homosexuality, social anxiety about the dangers to single young women alone in the city and the treatment of sex and pregnancy outside of marriage as a sign of delinquency in girls and young women (de Koster, 2010; Weeks, 2012). Historians have tended to concentrate on such examples of the regulation of consensual behaviour outside the norm. This presentation will explore another aspect of this heightened anxiety, in the Netherlands at any rate, namely a big increase in media coverage of crimes of sexual violence. The subject of the presentation is Dutch newspaper reporting of rapes and child sexual abuse in the interwar period. I will examine how the newspapers’ presentation of the cases evoked sympathy for the victims but also served to create a certain restrictive interpretation of what sexual violence meant. I will also look at the portrayal of the perpetrators and show how this related to notions of masculinity. (Show less)

Jaco Zuijderduijn, Ariadne Schmidt : Comparative Perspectives on Crime and Gender: London and Amsterdam in the Early Modern Period
In the early modern period the participation of women in crime was larger than in modern times and female criminality appeared to be a typical urban phenomenon. In the largest cities of Europe, the proportion of women involved in criminality was remarkably large. However, little attention has been paid to ... (Show more)
In the early modern period the participation of women in crime was larger than in modern times and female criminality appeared to be a typical urban phenomenon. In the largest cities of Europe, the proportion of women involved in criminality was remarkably large. However, little attention has been paid to the possible differentiation and fluctuations in female crime rates in the early modern period in various towns. The research presented here explores the relation between urbanization and female crime in the early modern period. The aim is to come to a more differentiated view of female criminality by looking at female crime in early modern cities from a comparative perspective, focusing on London and Amsterdam. Were the high female crime rates a more or less logical outcome of the metropolitan character of London and Amsterdam? And if so, did this lead to a stereotypical metropolitan female criminal responsible for committing typical urban female crimes? Or were the patterns of female criminality more differentiated and related to the local contexts? And if so, what can these differences tell us about the underlying mechanisms, such as economic cycles, migration, social position of men and women, and (legal) culture? Is it, in other words, possible to make a typology of cities of crime? (Show less)



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