'This Pernicious Delusion': Law, Medicine, and Child Sexual Abuse in Early-Twentieth-Century Scotland.
There is, of course, in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe and North America, a wealth of historical evidence for the earlier existence of such a belief, both in medical folklore and legal discourse. The notion is usually portrayed as a superstition of the "lower orders," but also frequently asso...
| Publicado en: | Journal of the History of Sexuality Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 62 - 78 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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University of Texas Press
Jan2001
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=7438822&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 7438822 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10434070 8I0 jtl: Journal of the History of Sexuality issn: 10434070 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2001 vid: 10 iid: 1 pid: 519 pub: University of Texas Press artinfo: ui: 7438822 10.1353/sex.2001.0006 ppf: 62 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 558KB tig: atl: 'This Pernicious Delusion': Law, Medicine, and Child Sexual Abuse in Early-Twentieth-Century Scotland. aug: au: Davidson, Roger affil: University of Edinburgh. su: Material culture Social structure Values (Ethics) Conduct of life Public policy (Law) United Kingdom Europe sug: subj: United Kingdom Europe Material culture Social structure Values (Ethics) Conduct of life Public policy (Law) ab: There is, of course, in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe and North America, a wealth of historical evidence for the earlier existence of such a belief, both in medical folklore and legal discourse. The notion is usually portrayed as a superstition of the "lower orders," but also frequently associated with xenophobic, if not racial stereotyping. In twentieth-century Scotland, a range of contemporary sources echoed the testimony of the High Court prosecution witnesses that belief in the curative powers of sexual congress with a virgin remained potent within medical folklore. The question arises of why this so-called pernicious delusion involving sexual offenses against children should have figured so prominently within legal and medical discourses in early twentieth-century Scotland. Its wide- spread invocation was of course part of a more general crisis of confidence in public order and public morality. As in many other countries at the turn of the century VD had become a metaphor for physical and moral decay, for the forces of pollution and contamination that appeared to threaten the institutions of social order and racial progress. Alarm over the issue of VD, especially its more repugnant forms of transmission, therefore offered an opportunity to express concern about changing standards of conduct and the moral values of society. Given the supposedly willful nature of its spread and its threat to social hygiene, sexually transmitted disease also provided a powerful justification for the social construction and proscription of "dangerous sexualities." pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal of the History of Sexuality is the property of and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal of the History of Sexuality holder: University of Texas Press dt: @attributes: year: 2001 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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