NCJ Number
164454
Date Published
1995
Length
217 pages
Annotation
This historical study of juvenile reformatories in Great Britain and the moral regulation of children and adolescents covers the 1850-1940 period.
Abstract
Although much has been written about Victorian middle and working class youth, the book goes beyond existing histories by addressing with equal emphasis the construction of masculinity and femininity in the emergent disciplinary society of 19th century Great Britain. The study reflects concerns of the new historical sociology and examines the field as a social system of dominance and resistance. The author locates child-saving institutions in this new "contested" social arena between the school, the prison, and the family where class, sexual, and family ideologies were deployed and resisted. Through archival documents and personal interviews, she shows that the current public focus on issues such as child abuse, homelessness, juvenile crime, and child prostitution and the failure of child welfare agencies have their roots in the late 19th century child-saving movement. References, notes, and tables