Medicine the Penal System and Sexual Crimes in England 1919-1960s

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.