1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910747591303321

Autore

Watson Katherine (Katherine Denise)

Titolo

Acid attacks in Britain, 1760-1975 / / Katherine D. Watson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing AG, , 2023

©2023

ISBN

9783031272721

3031272722

9783031272714

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (143 pages) : illustrations

Collana

World Histories of Crime, Culture and Violence Series

Disciplina

364.1555

Soggetti

Assault and battery - Great Britain - History

Crimes of passion - Great Britain - History

Acids

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographcial references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Acid Throwing in History and Historiography -- Laws Against Acid Throwing -- Aims, Methods and Sources -- Structure and Argument -- Chapter 2: Facts and Figures -- Incidence and Location -- Corrosive Fluids: Effects and Impact -- Acid Throwers and Their Victims -- Chapter 3: Motives and Contexts -- The Origins of Acid Throwing -- Motives for Acid Throwing -- Anger, Shame and Despair -- Case Study: Frederick John Byott, 1971 -- Continuity and Change in Motives for Acid Throwing -- Chapter 4: Law and Justice -- Trial Outcomes and Sentencing -- Case Study: Ellen Bevan, 1885 -- Provocation as a Mitigatory Defence -- Medicalised Responses to Acid Throwers -- Chapter 5: Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Manuscript Sources -- National Records of Scotland -- The National Archives, Kew -- The Signet Library, Edinburgh -- Online Printed Primary Sources -- Printed Works -- Newspapers, Journals and Periodicals -- Secondary Sources -- Online Publications -- Websites -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

This Palgrave Pivot examines the history of the largely urban offence once known as vitriol throwing because the substance most commonly



used was strong sulphuric acid, oil of vitriol. A relatively rare form of assault, it was motivated largely by revenge or jealousy and, because it was specifically designed to blind and mutilate, commonly targeted the victims face. The incidence of what was thus widely acknowledged to be an exceptionally cruel crime plateaued in the period 18501930 amid a sometimes surprisingly lenient legal response, before declining as a result of post-war social changes. In examining the factors that influenced both the crime and its punishment, the book makes an important contribution to criminal justice history by illuminating the role of gender, law and emotion from the perspective of both victim and perpetrator. Katherine D. Watson is Reader in History at Oxford Brookes University, UK. Her research interests focus on topics where medicine, crime and the law intersect, particularly in Britain since the seventeenth century. She is the author of Medicine and Justice: Medico-Legal Practice in England and Wales, 17001914 (2020).